Teddy Sklarski

On February 18 2008 we all lost a Fisherman, a Hunter and a Friend in Teddy Sklarski. To those that knew him, they knew what a great man he was. He helped a lot of people in his days with us.

Teddy was an accomplished auto mechanic/technician [mechanics as they were known in the '40's & 50's & 60's] I first met Teddy when he worked for the Hudson Dealer in Niagara Falls and later as he went into his own business when Hudson motor cars went bust and were a thing of the past. Teddy still kept Hudson owners cars up and repaired and he helped other garages in Niagara Falls with needed expertise when it came to repairing these cars. Teddy was always there to help others with his expert advise.

"Ted's Motors" as his new business was called was a hub of activity in Niagara Falls. Ted's Motors was one of the leading radiator and gas tank repair businesses in the city, among so many other things that required his skills. Among them, front end work, brakes, engine overhauls, wheel alignments etc.]

As some will remember Hudson cars were equipped with what was called a hydraulic clutch and the clutch had cork pads imbedded that required a special oil lubricant. Ted's Garage supplied the local area repair shops with this special oil and as I can recall it was called "Hudsonite" along with the special clutch parts that were needed and aftermarket parts were scarce.

As the years went on Ted and I got to be good friends and I'm sorry I never got to fish with him as so many others did. Sometimes we went to the same places but it was always at a different time.

I met up with Teddy's good friend Dave Paonessa, on the evening before Teddy was to be buried. Paonessa was one of the lucky guys that went fishing and hunting with Teddy a lot . After some great "Teddy Stories" and tears wiped away from reminiscing, Paonessa had a decoupage of photos he made up for Teddy's family and he gave me one. [Below is one of those.]

After Teddy retired he became bored at home and used to help me out in my Tackle Shop on Hyde Park Boulevard [if he wasn't fishing] Ted would open my shop for bait fishermen at 4:00 am and sell them their worms, minnows and crabs for the day or weekend. He loved it. He would open a half hour early just so he didn't disappoint anyone. Fishermen came to my shop just to see Teddy and get the lowdown on where the fish were biting and what bait to use for that day or weekend.

I never met anyone in Teddy's family. He had three sons. His wife [Wanda] predeceased him in 2002.

Teddy Sklarski was a Charter Member of the Niagara River Anglers Association and participated in many of its functions throughout the years. One meeting he seldom ever missed was the annual Christmas party/meeting.

The pictures below were put together by Dave Paonessa and I'll try and remember what Dave told me about them:

Upper left is Dave Paonessa, Teddy and ----? The top center picture is of Teddy with his 8 pound walleye he caught in Canada and according to Paonessa, Teddy was really tickled because it was the largest walleye he ever caught. The top right picture is Teddy [L] and Paonessa on the right with the sunglasses on. Don't know who the middle guy is. Second row left is Teddy in the field stalking birds. Center photo is Teddy waving to the camera. Second row, right is Teddy hamming things up at fishing camp. The garb on his head was some colored underwear made up to be a fishing cap. Bottom left is Dave on the left and Teddy cleaning their walleye catch for that day. The bottom center photo is unique as it shows the window from of the cottage at camp that Teddy loved to sit and look out of at the scenery. Lower right is Teddy getting the boat ready to go out for the day. Pictures loaned by Dave Paonessa

TEDDY REMEMBERED BY HIS FAMILY ~ An email received on Father's Day June 2008

Mark, Hi I'm Larry Sklarski, Teddy's middle son, today is Fathers Day and I wanted to let you know what happened............

Early this morning I was online doing a search on members of our family, it's always interesting to see who pops up when you type in your name. Anyway I did my name, my brother Danny's, his daughters Jamie and I decided to try my dad's, Teddy Sklarski.

To my surprise I found your article in tribute to my dad. Since this is my first Fathers Day without my dad and we always celebrated his birthday on the same day it was a comfort to read someone else's experiences with him. Unfortunately I was never really involved in my Dads fishing and hunting. When I was growing up I do remember working in the garage sweeping and holding the light, there were also times we'd go fishing with his father and I remember catching a huge northern and also being caught in a wicked storm. I did go deer hunting with my dad a few years but gave up feeling it wasn't worth freezing at 5AM to see a couple of chipmunks.

As I grew into my later teens and twenty's as most children do I grew further apart from my parents wanting to be more independent. As I attended college in Florida for Oceanography and Environmental Science I knew my dad was interested in what I was studying but never realized how much I was following in his dreams and desires. It wasn't until my mid forty's things started clicking with my dad and I and after my mom passed we grew even closer.

Even though he didn't show it I know my dad was proud of all three of his son's, their accomplishments and their families and grandchildren. Now that I'm 55 I can look back at all the things dad sacrificed for us and look forward to how I to do the same for my children. Are any of us perfect in all we do, no, but it's the trying and being there during tough times that count in life. My dad was there looking out for us when we didn't want it but needed it and giving us advice that even though we didn't understand at the time would come to help us in the raising of our children.

Thank you for the tribute you printed in his memory and many thanks to David Paonessa for the pictures and memories he shared with us. I called Danny to let him know about the article and will pass it on to Teddy.

Larry Sklarski