Former Carpentersville police chief, village president John Skillman Jr. dies

From the age of 24, John Skillman Jr. dedicated his life to his community.

During 64 years living in Carpentersville, Skillman was a police officer, then the police chief, and he was elected as a village trustee, village president and Community Unit District 300 school board member.

Skillman died Monday at Advocate Sherman Hospital in Elgin, leaving a legacy of service. He was 88.

"He loved this town more than anybody," said son John Skillman, who followed in his father's footsteps to become Carpentersville village president.

Born Aug. 9, 1933, in Chicago, Skillman worked as a milkman with Bowman Dairy Co. and served in the Army before joining law enforcement. He met his wife, Rosemary, at a United Service Organizations dance in St. Louis, Missouri.

"He originally was an ambulance driver. That's what (police officers) used to do before they had paramedics," said Skillman's oldest daughter, Kathleen Sellnow, of Oregon, Wisconsin.

Sellnow, now 64, remembers riding in the back of her father's police car to airplane crashes and tornado sites in Crystal Lake, joining him at football games at what was then Irving Crown High School, and watching him participate in community parades dressed as "Big Bird."

"Every day was an adventure with Dad," she said. "He was in the 1968 Chicago Democratic convention riots. They called police from all over the Chicago metro area to fill in. They gave him riot gear, a helmet. ... He kissed my mom and us kids goodbye, and we didn't see him for like three days."

Skillman and his officer buddies spent their days off entertaining patients at a Chicago children's hospital. He starting helping out with the high school football team and athletic programs, counseling many students who trusted him with their problems. He was a school resource officer before that job existed, Sellnow said.

"He was always taking them home to their parents," Sellnow said. "That was one of the lessons I learned. ... It was important that I talked to my children that they should not be afraid to talk to me, even if they did something I wasn't happy with. By his actions, I learned to be a better parent and to communicate with my kids."

Sellnow said she went into nursing and emergency medicine because of her father's example of policing and volunteering in the community.

"He always was giving, helping and wanting to be there for people," she said. "It wasn't just about law enforcement with him. It was about service."

Skillman retired as Carpentersville police chief in 1985 after 25 years with the department. During his tenure as village trustee and later president from 1985 to 1997, he oversaw the development of the west side of town along the Randall Road corridor.

"I'm working with (consultants) that he worked with and (engineering) companies that he worked with back in the day," said son John, who has been village president for five years. "I want to surpass what he did and grow the community."

The elder Skillman was a charter member of St. Monica Catholic Church in Carpentersville. He also was involved with Dundee Township and served on the District 300 school board from 1971 to 1983, including as board president. He was an avid supporter of the Irving Crown High School Booster Club, and a board member and inductee of the Dundee-Crown High School's Athletic Hall of Fame.

Skillman is survived by daughters Sellnow and Maureen Harrison, and sons John Skillman and Robert Skillman.

Visitation will be 3 to 8 p.m. Friday at Miller Funeral Home in West Dundee and 9 to 10 a.m. Saturday before the funeral Mass at St. Catherine of Siena Church in West Dundee. Burial with military honors will follow at River Valley Memorial Gardens in West Dundee. Memorial contributions may be made to Fish Food Pantry, Dundee-Crown Athletic Hall of Fame or the District 300 educational foundation.