Dr. Morris F. “Fritz” Skinner Jr., 83, of Gothenburg, died unexpectedly Feb. 4, 2017, in Callaway.
Fritz was born on May 6, 1933, in Ainsworth to Morris and Marie Skinner. As Morris Sr. was employed as a paleontologist for Child’s Frick of the American Museum of Natural History in New York City, Fritz’ upbringing was unique. The family spent many weekends and long summer hours at dig sites across the Dakotas, Nebraska, Wyoming and other states. Fritz and his sister, Barbara, attended school in Ainsworth each year until late fall, when the whole family would move to New York City. Morris and Marie completed their cataloguing and research at the American Museum of Natural History while Barb and Fritz attended New York public school in Manhattan. In the spring, the family would move back to Nebraska, where Morris and Marie would resume their work in the field and the children would return to the Ainsworth school system.
Fritz graduated from Ainsworth High School in 1951, University of Nebraska-Lincoln in 1954 and University of Nebraska Medical Center in 1958, when polio was still a major concern and the iron lung was still in common use. His internship and general practice residency were completed in San Bernardino, California.
He entered the U.S. Navy in 1961 and completed his orthopedic residency at the Naval Hospitals in Bethesda, Maryland, and Grand Rapids, Michigan. His military career included service on the USS Oklahoma City in Vietnam (1968-69) and at the Naval Hospitals at Camp Pendleton and Oakland, California, achieving the rank of commander.
Following discharge, the majority of his orthopedic career was spent in private practice in San Clemente, Mission Viejo and San Diego, California.
Among other achievements, he was one of the first surgeons to successfully complete the reimplantation of a traumatically severed forearm. He retired and moved back to Nebraska in 1998, where he continued a conservative non-operative orthopedic practice in Ainsworth and performed Disability Determination Examinations through the Bainbridge Orthopedic Clinic in Grand Island.
He married Carol Friedman in 1966, and they had one son, Robert.
After Fritz moved to Nebraska, he met and married Dr. Carol Shackleton in 2004 and resided in Gothenburg.
Over the years, he had been very active in various orthopedic associations, Lions Club, Rotary and the American Medical Association. He adored camping and spent many memorable trips with his son to the Mexican Baja and with Dr. Carol in their fifth wheel, traveling from Mississippi to Montana, Minnesota to Texas, Kentucky to California. In addition, they took trips to Costa Rica, Alaska, Hawaii and Europe and made numerous trips to the lake cabin in Minnesota.
His other passion was horses, riding for pleasure in California and participating in team penning rodeo activities in Ainsworth. He freely shared his love of paleontology, geology and orthopedics with friends old and new.
He was preceded in death by his parents, Morris and Marie, and one niece, Theresa Lamb.
He is survived by his wife, Dr. Carol; son, Robert (Meghan) Skinner; three grandchildren, Natalie, Amanda and Koby Skinner; sister, Barbara Lamb; niece, Marcia (Ed) Dawson; nephew, Tom Lamb; and a multitude of grateful patients.
In lieu of flowers, memorials are suggested to the Presbyterian Church of Gothenburg or Gothenburg Health Foundation.
Services will be at 11 a.m. on Saturday, Feb. 11, at the First Presbyterian Church of Gothenburg, with a luncheon to follow. Book signing will be from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Friday, Feb. 10, at Blase-Strauser Memorial Chapel, Gothenburg, which is in charge of arrangements.