Born Feb. 26, 1938, in South Bend, Ind., he was the son of the late Arthur and Helen (Dingman) Skodinski. After graduating from John Adams High School of South Bend in 1956, he entered the U.S. Navy receiving an honorable discharge in 1960.

On Sept. 9, 1961, he and Kay were married in South Bend.

He then attended Purdue University, graduating with a bachelor's degree in electrical engineering in 1966. He worked at General Electric, Whirlpool, and Rockwell International, before settling in Connecticut to work at Electric Boat, retiring in 1995. He received his MBA from University of New Haven and nearly completed his master's in computer science from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in Hartford.

In addition to his wife of nearly 45 years, he is survived by a son, Richard C. Skodinski and his fiancé, Elizabeth Rosa, of South Windsor and a daughter and son-in-law, Kelly and Tom Crosby of Salem; six grandchildren, Cody Skodinski, Alex Skodinski-Burrows, Shae and Kaylie Crosby, Nicole and David Rosa; and two sisters, Margaret Gardner of South Bend and Sharon Long and her husband, Gordon, of Fairport, N.Y.; along with numerous extended family and friends.

He was active in the community participating as a Cub Scout leader, an umpire for the East Lyme Little League, and was a long time member of Christ Lutheran Church in Niantic. He participated for over 30 years in a bridge league, and will be dearly missed by the many friends he played with over the years. He will be fondly remembered as someone who never found anything to be broken, but that it was just a spare part that he could use on another day. He enjoyed working and puttering around his home putting many hours into the numerous projects he had in progress. He was also very proud of his "super scanner" status and worked hard to maintain this.

Friends may call from 5 to 8 p.m. on Monday, May 1, 2006, at the Thomas L. Neilan & Sons East Lyme Funeral Home, 48 Grand St., Niantic. Funeral services will be at 11 a.m. on Tuesday, May 2, at Christ Lutheran Church, Society Road, Niantic.

In lieu of flowers, memorial donations may be made to Hospice of Southeastern Connecticut, 179 Gallivan Lane, PO Box 902, Uncasville CT 06382.

For obituary information, directions, or to sign the family's online register book, please visit www.neilanfuneralhome.com.