Dale Skoda, 70
Dale Skoda, age 70 of Fredericksburg, died Friday, Oct. 15, 2021, at his home.
Funeral services were held at 10:30 a.m. Wednesday, Oct. 20, 2021, at St. Paul’s Lutheran Church in Fredericksburg with the Rev. Ronnie Koch officiating. Pallbearers were Kyle Chipera, Collyn Chipera, Hunter Lubben, Alec Aries, Dan Chipera, and Andy Aries. Honorary pallbearers were Dale’s “Bowling Buddies.”
Friends greeted the family from 3 to 7 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 19, 2021, at Hugeback- Johnson Funeral Home & Crematory in New Hampton. Visitation continued an hour prior to the service at the church in Fredericksburg on Wednesday.
Online condolences for the Skoda family may be left at hugebackfuneralhome.com.
Dale was born on March 21, 1951, in Cresco, and he was the oldest of Adrian and Maxine (Groesbeck) Skoda’s five children.
He attended kindergarten in Cresco before his family moved to New Hampton, where Dale attended school and graduated with the Class of 1969. He then attended Mankato State University in Minnesota, where he obtained a degree in business administration.
Dale took a job with Federated Cartridge in Minneapolis, but on one of his trips home, he went golfing at Plum Creek Golf Course in Fredericksburg and stopped in for a drink at the clubhouse, where he met a bartender named Cathy Neuendorf. They hit it off, began dating, and were married on July 24, 1976.
The couple made their home in New Hampton, where Dale worked at the family business, Bowlaway Lanes.
The family grew to include three children — Michelle, Todd, and Sarah. The Skoda kids had a father who worked hard but loved taking road trips with his children, blaring the rock music all the way down the highway. The family loved to camp, and the kids spent innumerable hours at the bowling alley, while Dale worked on the machines. In addition to helping at the bowling alley, Dale worked as a rural mail carrier for more than 30 years, meaning that he’d get up long before the sun rose, do his route, head to the bowling alley at 1:30, and get home at 11:30. As if he wasn’t busy enough, he and his son did a Des Moines Register paper route for six years, and the stories the two Skoda “boys” could tell are legion.
Dale loved the action of the bowling alley, and for many years, he bowled in three leagues, serving as the longtime secretary of the Wednesday Night Men’s League, as well as Tri-State Traveling League. But what he really loved was the people and he could start a conversation with just about anyone at a moment’s notice. For all he did for the sport in his hometown, he was inducted into the New Hampton Men’s Bowling Hall of Fame.
He also liked his quiet time, too, and spending a few hours in the woods was all he needed to clear his mind. Dale loved to read, and he was a sponge. He was a walking trivia encyclopedia, and he was definitely the guy you wanted if you needed an answer about anything, no matter how obscure the fact was.
Dale was a jokester, and he was a black belt at sarcasm, too. As busy as he was, he found time to garden and was a heck of a griller, too. Dale came up with “rubs” for meat long before it became a “thing.”
He loved sports — especially the Hawkeyes, Vikings, and Twins — and he took meticulous stats while watching his favorite teams play.
Dale was a proud grandfather to eight and a great-grandpa to one, and the grandchildren all have special memories when it comes to their grandpa.
Dale packed a lot of life into his 70 years. He was a, in short, one-of-a-kind guy who thankfully didn’t require a lot of sleep, and he will be dearly missed by Cathy, the kids, the grandchildren, his friends, and a bowling community in New Hampton that he served so well for so long.
He is survived by his mother, Maxine Skoda of New Hampton; his wife, Cathy Skoda of Fredericksburg; his son, Todd (Bobbi) Skoda of Fredericksburg; his daughters, Michelle (Dan) Chipera of New Hampton, and Sarah (Andy) Aries of Fredericksburg; eight grandchildren, Kyle (Shannon) Chipera, Collyn Chipera, Hunter Lubben, Hayden Skoda, Sterling Skoda, Alec Aries, Jenna Aries, and Ellie Aries; his brother, Tony (Anneliese) Skoda of Onalaska, Wisconsin; his sisters, Sue (Dan) Huffman of New Hampton, JoAnn (Randy) Vaala of Saude, and Carol (Rod) Olson of Ocala, Florida.
He was preceded in death by his father, Adrian “Skeeter” Skoda.
