Charles (Skip) McKibben, 74, passed away peacefully after a long and courageous battle with cancer on March 12 at the Wrangell Medical Center. He was surrounded by family and friends.
Skip was born in Wrangell on May 19, 1937. He was an original river rat, having been conceived on the Stikine River. The middle child of Lena (Ellis) McKibben, he was raised on the river where he acquired his life long love for nature and the great outdoors. He was known for constantly building and testing water crafts constructed out of various materials. These adventurous voyages provided his parents the opportunity to worry about his return, resulting in his nickname “Skipper”. Skip was always recognized as a leader and outdoorsman through out his years as a Wrangell High School student. He graduated high school and married his high school sweetheart Lucille in 1956.
Soon after, they relocated to Arcadia, Calif. where Skip attended Humboldt State University. During the summers, he worked as a stream guard at Anan and various other regional streams. He graduated college in 1961 with a degree in Fisheries biology and returned back to Wrangell to work for Fish and Wildlife. He surveyed many of the area’s streams, and conducted some of the earliest research on salmon runs on the Stikine River. After his surveying position, he worked for Fish and Game as a Game Warden. Wanting to be closer to home, Skip took a job as a math and science teacher at Wrangell High School, and worked at the Wrangell mill as a night foreman. By this time, Skip had three children and they spent every waking moment fishing, hunting, and camping. In the early 70’s, Skip and his family moved to Colorado where he managed land and fisheries for a mountain resort area. During his years in Colorado he also operated a successful excavating company.
After numerous years of traveling back and forth between his Colorado and Alaska homes, he returned full-time to Wrangell where he became a commercial fisherman. He enjoyed many years of halibut fishing and trolling up until this past year. An avid outdoorsman, Skip was renowned for his hunting, fishing, and subsistence lifestyle having grown up with the family motto: “tide’s out, the table’s set.”. He was well known for teaching many the art of catching, canning and smoking fish, clam digging, and always delivered salmon to many people around Wrangell. People would always know if he was in town when they could smell the inviting scent of smoked fish, and see the alder smoke wafting from his smoke house. Skip was always a great host and his home was a favorite gathering spot.
Skip was preceded in death by his parents, Lena and Al McKibben, and his daughter Rhonda McKibben. Skip is survived by his sisters, Marlene (Carl) Summerfield of California, and Mary (Earl) Benitz of Farm Island, his children Brenda Schwartz-Yeager (John Yeager) of Wrangell, and Michael Summerfield of California, and his grandchildren, Emily Schwartz of Charleston SC, Lauren Yeager, Michael Schwartz, and Brian (Skipper) Schwartz of Wrangell, and Connor Yeager of Petersburg.
In lieu of customary donations, Skip would like to encourage you to take a child hunting or fishing. And in keeping with Skip’s tradition, share your harvest of game or fish with someone in your community.
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