June 13, 1957 ~ May 17, 2021
A life well lived.
Joe, 63, was born at St Marys hospital in Enid, Ok to Joseph A. and Margret Streck Skoda on June 13, 1957. He received his complete healing from this world at St Mary’s hospital on Monday, May 17, 202,1 as a result of sudden cardiac arrest suffered May 7th.
Joe was married to Balinda Brown on August 18, 1977. Their son, Eric was born June 20,, 1978.
After being widowed, he married Susanne Divelbiss Nazari and her daughter, Roxanna, on January 7, 2000. Born to this union were Rachel and Rebekah.
Joe was loved by everyone who knew him. He had friends from all walks of life and many lifelong friendships. He has spent his life near Waukomis, and is well known and respected. In school he was a brilliant student and athlete, participating in football, basketball, and especially gifted in track. He was also known as a bit of a rebel and prankster, once getting sent home from school with a buddy for wearing only overalls.
He loved cars and has many friends through driving and working on muscle cars. His first car, a camero. His latest, a 1997 Defender 90NAS Land Rover, the only one in the area of its kind.
Joe was a hard worker. As a youth he worked at the Bison coop, at the carbon plant and on an oil rig for Clarence Barker. In a building on the family farm, he and Clarence started a pit liner business. Joe found him to be a valued and loved mentor. After the oil boom died, he shifted that building into a cabinet shop where he began making his reputation as a gifted and sought after cabinet maker. He was meticulous but also considered “an artist” in his field. He was self-taught, having “read a book” when he started. His son played and then worked with his dad in the shop and has followed in Joe’s footsteps as a talented and gifted cabinet maker. His sense of humor shown through the comics drawn on scrap wood and walls around the shop. He was a concerned employer. He felt responsible for “his guys” and tried to watch out for them and pay them well.
Joe loved getting away to Kaw Lake to look for arrowheads. He began finding arrowheads with his dad in the field behind the house. He knew all the local places to look. Certain fields and Turkey Creek would yield satisfactory results. He also had his favorite spots at Kaw Lake and the Arkansas River. He was a self-taught “amateur expert”. He knew the time period, category, tribe, material it was made of, and purpose of every arrowhead, and also when and where it was found and who was with him. He was a little competitive about it, making sure that he was out front to get the best finds. Eventually, he also began collecting some ancient pottery and he attended artifact shows. He was well known and loved in that community as well. Artifacts grew into family outings and trips as his family grew in appreciation.
Joe came to know Jesus Christ as a young adult. His love of history infused itself into his relationship with Christ. His Bible knowledge and Christian history was impressive, inspiring those around him to look deeper in to Jesus and also into leaders of Protestant Christianity like Martin Luther, John Calvin, and William Tyndale. He was well versed in the Reformation and Sovereign Grace and loved discussing it with like-minded people and teaching about it to others. He felt himself a prodigal son and lavished in the Grace of God. He brought many to Christ and many experienced God’s love through him. His friend and author George Ella dedicated his book, John Gill and Justification from Eternity to Joe and Balinda.
These last few years Joe has cherished being “Grampy” to Scarlet giving her endless rides on the forklift and teaching her to honk the horn. She loved climbing up, honking the horn, and turning it on, running out the battery if no one noticed.
Joe was preceded in death by his beloved wife Balinda, his Grandparents Frank and Anna Hladek Skoda, his parents, his Aunt Marlene Dierksen, and his youngest brother, Michael.
He is survived by his wife Susanne of 21 years, son Eric, daughters Rachel and Rebekah, his stepdaughter Roxanna Costello. Also by his grandchildren Scarlet Costello and Alexander Dean Zuniga. Also his brother Brian, niece Kendra, and nephews Chris and Craig.
Memorial Service will be 2:00pm Thursday, May, 20, 2021 at Emmanuel Enid with Wade Burleson and Tim Taylor officiating. A private burial will be held at a later date.
Obituaries are posted, in part, due to the generosity of The Commons.
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