A. Dix Skillman • Age: 96 • Belle Mead, NJ
A. Dix Skillman, Belle Mead attorney, passed away on Saturday, Dec. 22, 2012, at the Foothill Acres Nursing Center in Hillsborough. He was 96.
His family will hold a Memorial Service in the Blawenburg Reformed Church, 424 Route 518, Blawenburg (Skillman) on Saturday, January 19, 2013 at 11 am. Visitation will precede service beginning at 10am at the Church.
Born in Skillman, NJ, on September 27, 1916, to Elva Stryker and Frederic T. Skillman, Dix graduated from Rutgers University in 1937 and the University of Pennsylvania Law School in 1940. After he passed his NJ Law Bar exam, he enlisted in the US Coast Guard in 1942 and completed his service in 1946 with the rank of Lieutenant, Senior Grade. Following his service to our country he moved to Belle Mead and was employed by the State of NJ in the new Corporation Tax Division. He transitioned from there to begin his own law practice. While he was practicing law at his office in Belle Mead, he was appointed legal counsel for Montgomery Township for 16 years and was counsel for the Montgomery Board of Education for over 39 years. He was also counsel for Branchburg Township for 8 years. In 1957 Dix was appointed Director of Inheritance Tax for Somerset County until he retired from the position in 1986. He was a Charter Member and the first President of the Rotary Club of Belle Mead and recipient of two Paul Harris Fellowships. Dix was a member and president of Montgomery Fire Company #1 and Charter Member, incorporator and life member of Montgomery Fire Company #2. He was a Charter Member and President of the Van Harlingen Historical Society of Montgomery Township and a member of the Sons of the Revolution, Princeton Chapter. He also belonged to the Franklin Township Historical Society, the Griggstown Historical Society and the New Jersey Historical Society. He was a member of Solomon’s Lodge in Somerville, the Crescent Shrine in Trenton, the American Bar Association and the Bar Associations of New Jersey, Somerset County, Franklin Township and Princeton.
Dix leaves behind Virginia, his beloved wife of nearly 70 years; daughter, Abigail; son, Peter, daughter-in-law, Barbara and three grandchildren, Sara, Katie and Christopher, as well as his sister-in-law, Jean Skillman. He was predeceased by two sisters, Rebecca Baird and Mary Van Cleef, and two brothers, Thomas and Harold.
In lieu of flowers, memorial donations may be made in Dix’s memory to the Rotary Club of Hillsborough (formerly the Rotary Club of Belle Mead) Foundation for the Scholarship Fund, PO Box 5644, Hillsborough, NJ 08844.
Published in the Courier News on January 11, 2013.
Webmaster’s note: A. Dix Skillman was the 1st cousin, once removed, of the Skillman Family Association’s Genealogist.