Donald (Skip) Sykes passed away Nov. 26 at home after a long illness. A native of Bala Cynwyd, Pennsylvania, he attended Episcopal Academy in Merion, Pennsylvania and Amherst College in Amherst, Massachusetts. He was named an All-American soccer player his senior year at Amherst. He later established the Amherst College Class of 1959 Soccer Fund.
After graduating from Amherst, Skip taught and coached varsity soccer at Episcopal Academy. Under his coaching, Episcopal’s soccer teams won several Inter-Academic Championships.
After receiving a master’s degree from University of Pennsylvania, he joined the faculty at St. George’s School, Newport, Rhode Island where he taught history, coached varsity soccer and served as dean of students.
After St. George’s, Skip became head of school at St. Edmund’s Academy, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. While at St. Edmund’s, he served on the board of Pennsylvania Association of Independent Schools (PAIS), which is the Pennsylvania Independent Schools’ accrediting organization.
For 12 years he served as head of school at Rumson Country Day School. During that time, he served on the SSAT board.
After leaving Rumson Country Day School, Skip established Donald Sykes Educational Consultants, Inc. While consulting, Skip served as president of Hampton Roads Airport, Inc., traveling to Chesapeake, Virginia for one to two weeks each month to establish firm business practices and oversee operation. Following the sale of Hampton Roads Airport in 1996, he served as interim head of The Pennington School, Pennington, for 15 months and as interim head at Montgomery School, Chester Springs, Pennsylvania for one year.
For over 30 years Skip served on the board of trustees of the Oceanic Free Library, Rumson, first as secretary and then as president.
Skip spent several summers as a senior counselor at Camp Tecumseh, Lake Winnipesaukee, New Hampshire. For the past 30 years he vacationed on Lake Mooselookmeguntic, Oquossoc, Maine. During the summers he refinished bedraggled furniture found in second hand stores, including a Larkin Soap desk and an antique dining room set. He also enjoyed teaching his children and grandchildren to build three-legged tables out of scrap lumber.
He leaves Frances, his wife of 57 years, and three children and their spouses, Abby Sykes (Anthony), Jeremy Sykes (Nichole) and Tiernan Close (Matthew), as well as seven grandchildren. He was a devoted husband, loving father and grandfather and steadfast friend.
Visitation was held Dec. 3 at Thompson Memorial Home, Red Bank. The funeral service was Dec. 4 at Holy Trinity Evangelical Lutheran Church, Red Bank.
In lieu of flowers, please send gifts to Oceanic Free Library, Rumson or Class of 1959 Soccer Fund, Amherst College, Amherst, Massachusetts.
