When Mount Prospect resident Sammy Skobel set his goals, he achieved them.
Skobel’s positive attitude and determination helped him advance beyond legal blindness to succeed in life and to become a role model.
Skobel, 92, died on Saturday, June 9 in his home.
After retiring from the roller derby, he opened Sammy Skobel’s Hot Dogs Plus, 34 S. Main Street in downtown Mount Prospect, and served up family favorites for years. His restaurant provided first jobs to dozens of high school students.
Skobel founded the American Blind Skiing Foundation (ABSF) in 1971 with his wife, Acrivie, and fellow Mt. Prospect residents: Louie Velasco, Ken Hamann, and Mark Edwards. The ABSF has helped hundreds of blind skiers learn independence and to gain self-confidence. The foundation continues to provide an educational skiing program for the blind or those visually impaired for physical and psychological therapeutic value.
“It all started from Sammy. Other people may be doing his work, but his spirit flows through the current guides,” said ABSF President, Michelle Hulscher. “Families spend time with us and learn. When someone has a physical impairment, people will say they can’t do this, but they learn to ski downhill.”
Hulscher added that this becomes the motivation guiding them to other challenges and proves to them that they can succeed.
Skobel empowered young people, spreading his belief that the key to success was believing in one’s dreams, taking action to achieve them, and never giving up.
Skobel was the husband of Acrivie; brother of Vera and the late Julia; father of Sam, Jr. and Stephen; father-in-law of Jan, Andrea, and Vicki; and grandfather of Aaron, Alexandra, Austin, Dexter, and Finn. He delighted everyone with humorous stories of his adventures living life to the fullest, refusing to accept limitations because of his visual problems.
Friends and family will celebrate Skobel’s life from noon to 3 p.m. Saturday, June 16 at Brick City Tavern, 34 S. Main Street, downtown Mount Prospect. The same address is the site of the original Sammy Skobel’s Hot Dogs Plus.
In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to the ABSF (www.absf.org) or the Mt. Prospect Historical Society (www.mtphist.org).
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I always thought that I was related to Slammin Sammy