For McKeesport man, work was a way of life
As a youngster attending school in McKeesport, it was Nick Skezas' job to shovel coal into the school's coal bins.
"Nick's father, Jacob, who operated his own coal-hauling company, had the contract to provide coal for the McKeesport schools at a time when the schools were heated by coal," recalled his wife, Fifi Skezas. "His father would dump the coal at Nick's school, and it was up to Nick to shovel it into the coal bins. Nick would then go to the janitor's room, wash up and attend class."
Nicholas J. Skezas, of McKeesport, an employee of the Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission, died on Friday, Feb. 7, 2003, in UPMC Shadyside. He was 81.
Hard work and perseverance were daily occurrences in Mr. Skezas' life. As the son of Greek immigrants who arrived in the United States in the early 1900s, Mr. Skezas and his late brother, Bill, began as youngsters to work with their father when his coal company only had one truck.
In the ensuing years, the Skezas Coal Co. kept 20 trucks rolling day and night as it become one of the largest coal and material haulers in the Mon Valley. And in later years the trucks went as far as Kittanning in Armstrong County.
In 1941, Mr. Skezas graduated from McKeesport High School and enrolled at the University of Pittsburgh, only to drop out a year later and enlist in the Navy.
Due to his skills as a driver, Mr. Skezas, in both World War II and the Korean War, served as a medic, first with the Navy and later with the Marines.
In 1947, he married Fifi Skarlis. "We both attended Greek School and Sunday school and sang in the choir at Annunciation Church, when it was located on Jenny Lind Street in McKeesport," she said. "We knew a few months before Nick left for the Navy during World War II that we wanted to be married. I wrote to him throughout the war."
Mr. Skezas served the McKeesport community as a councilman, school board director, municipal authority member and board member of McKeesport-Versailles Cemetery. He also was active with the McKeesport Lions Club, serving as president. For years, his wife said, he would process the applications for eyeglasses for families and individuals who could not afford them.
His commitment to his Greek Orthodox faith was also a source of pride. When the congregation of the Greek Orthodox Church of the Annunciation — of which he served as president — built its present structure in White Oak, Mr. Skezas hauled building material and helped in the construction.
Until he became ill several weeks ago, Mr. Skezas worked as a building facilities equipment analyst for the Turnpike Commission's Western Regional Office in New Stanton, Westmoreland County. His wife recalled that "Nick often took his mandolin or his violin to serenade a fellow employee who had a birthday or an addition to their family."
Mrs. Skezas said friends and acquaintances would wonder if she ever saw her husband, who even at the age of 81 was always on the go. "We had an old-fashioned marriage. I kept house and took care of the kids, and Nick worked and provided for us. I saw him whenever he got home."
Mr. Skezas is survived by his wife, Fifi Skarlis Skezas; daughters, Dr. Helen S. "Dolly" Whelan, of Great Fall, Va., and Constance M. Skezas, of the South Side; a son, Jacob N. Skezas, of White Oak; five grandchildren; and a sister, Dr. Marion Skezas, of McKeesport.
He was the brother of the late William Skezas and Fannie Steiner.
Friends will be received from 2 to 5 and 7 to 9 p.m. today and Monday at the Jaycox-Jaworski Funeral Home Inc., 2703 O'Neil Blvd., McKeesport.
A funeral service is scheduled for 11 a.m. Tuesday in the Greek Orthodox Church of the Annunciation, White Oak, with the Rev. Stelios Menis officiating. Interment will follow in McKeesport-Versailles Cemetery.
