Skilliter remembers good life in Genoa

In a recent interview for a new oral history project in Genoa, Robert “Bob” Skilliter, 93, recalls the many years he spent in the community, growing up and growing old.
       
Skilliter says it was a “good life” in a “nice community” where the Skilliter family name was synonymous with the very popular hardware store they operated for many years on Main Street, which was started by his grandfather, Bunt.
       
The building currently houses the Edward Griswold Senior Center. It is one of the many changes that Genoa's downtown area has experienced over the decades, changes that the retired, lifelong Genoan looks back upon as he remembers life as it once was on Genoa's Main Street. 
       
“The street used to be paved with bricks when I was growing up and there were lots of businesses,” he said. “There was Samsen's Furniture on the corner and next to that was the Savings and Loan, and across the street a Red and White grocery run by the Hesslebarts, who delivered groceries, and next to them was Cashen's Meat Market.”
       
Skilliter left the hardware business when the family store was sold in 1958. Still a young man at the time, he went to work for Acme Specialty Products in Toledo and stayed there until he retired as president of the company. 
       
But Skilliter never strayed too far from his beloved hometown.  In fact, he still lives in a house on West Street, next door to the home he was born in back in 1931.
       
One memory of life in Genoa includes 20 years as a member of Genoa's Fire Department, which kept him busy and awake at all hours of the night answering calls for emergencies.  He said it was a “fun experience, but could be dangerous, too,” as he remembered some of the times that the volunteers were called out to deal with deadly, tragic fires and numerous car accidents.
       
Skilliter also talked of his time as a standout football player at Genoa High School in the 1940s, and the dark years when polio sadly affected many of his schoolmates.
       
By the 1970s, Skilliter says he became active in local politics, first as a village councilman and then as mayor for several years. During those years he helped bring about many significant upgrades to the community, including a major conversion of the town's water system from treated well-water to a pipeline that brought in treated lake water from Oregon. 
       
Also during his time at city hall, Skilliter helped obtain the funds for the widening of State Route 163 through Genoa, the street-scaping improvements to the downtown area, and numerous upgrades to the baseball field area adjacent to Veteran's Park. The park was made possible by his father, Robert Sr., who in the 1940s, bought the quarry and transferred ownership of the quarry and its land to the village.
       
Skilliter also fondly recalls the time spent with his wife, Theresa, who was his high school sweetheart. She passed away in 2020 after many years of marriage and five children together.  
       
During the interview, Skilliter recalled how he used his grandfather's hardware store pickup truck to take Theresa on their early dates. It is just one of many delightful stories that Skilliter reveals during the conversation. 
       
In fact, Skilliter’s recollections of his childhood and rich life in Genoa will be added to the growing number of such oral histories being conducted as a joint project between the Genoa Historical Society and the Harris Elmore-Genoa Library.
       
The most recent interviews include former Genoa football coach Jim Firestone, and former Genoa Motors owner, Russ Bower. They have been best friends for decades, and they were interviewed together.
       
Meghan Parker, the Genoa Library Branch manager, is excited about this oral history project as it helps create personal narratives of Genoa's story.
       
“It's good to know how things were years ago and how certain things happened in the town,” she said. 
       
Parker’s enthusiasm is matched by that of Katie Blum, the library’s historian who is hoping to interview more people “who can tell Genoa's story from their own unique perspectives.” 
       
Parker and Blum are both Genoa natives and said their shared passion in this endeavor has a lot to do with their personal attachment to the community and its people. 
       
All of the interviews are recorded on both video and audio, and will be placed on the websites of the library and Genoa Historical Society for the public to enjoy.   They will also be available at the Genoa branch of the library. 
       
If you or someone you know is interested in being interviewed for this project, you can contact Meghan Parker at the Genoa branch of the Harris Elmore Genoa Library, through the website - harriselmorelibrary.org - or by phone at 419-855-8830.