LTC Walter Skuby, Memory Eternal

Tuesday 14 August 2007 was a sad day for many of us. But it was also a day of joy. On this day we at St. Nicholas Cathedral in Washington DC bid farewell to our beloved friend Vladimir Skuby. HIs secular name was Walter, but his Church name was Vladimir, undoubtedly named after the Grand Duke of Kiev who is also the equal to the Apostles.

In many ways Vladimir Skuby imitated his name sake, St. Vladimir. Both were soldiers and both did much for the church.

I did not know him as well as most, especially since I saw him only between 1982 and 1988 on a regular basis. During those years I was a member of St. Nicholas Cathedral and initially sang in the choir. Vladimir generally sang at the Slavonic Liturgy and I was always at the English Liturgy. In 1986 I started serving on the altar and it was always the English Liturgy, although my very first service was at the Slavonic Liturgy.

One day in the choir I accidentally put my hand on his and quickly removed it and put it on the railing near his. He then put is hand over mine so that I could not remove it. This little gesture meant very much to me.

On another occasion we were riding from one house to another. I think that we were leaving one Pascha party to go to the second one at his house. I told the story about an incident that happened at church and work. I will now share the story with you.

On the Third Sunday of Lent, the Sunday of the Holy Cross, I arrived at Vigil late and realized that the whole service was mainly in Slavonic because both the male Slavonic choir and the English choir knew only Vespers at this point. So I just sang in the choir, although I have been serving for a few months already.

After the service, I noticed a young man returning to the church. I was standing at the door. When he entered, I said "hello" and he answered "здравствуйте." I wanted him to know that somebody saw him go into the church. He was not a member of the parish and I never saw him before this time. When he came out of the church, I asked, "Говорите вы по-английски?" (Do you speak English?) He laughed and said yes.

We got into a conversation. He was a member of the male Slavonic choir and I commented that I personally did not appreciate their singing tonight because that meant that the whole service would be in Slavonic. I do not mind Slavonic and there are places where I love hearing it, but not at the verses that changes when there is no text for the people to follow.

This young man told me that it was very important to keep the language pure and that the Soviet government has messed up the language and when they are overthrown, "we will have to go back and re-educate the people in the proper use of the language."

The next week at work I was talking with Pat, one of the staff. She was a secretary. I was a contract worker at the State Department in Springfield VA. This woman was shocked because I come in contact with Russian people. She told me that this was a security violation and that I have to report it. I said, "Pat, these are American citizens." She said, "That doesn't matter. It is still a security violation." She offered to contact Security for me.

When I told this story, Vladimir could not stop laughing and he said, "I want to hear more about this woman!"

What makes this even more weird is the fact that our security manager was Russian. I learned that much later. He probably was a Russian Jew. I don't think that he was an Orthodox Christian. If he were, I probably would had found out one way or another.

As a result of Pat's concern, the next time I went on military duty, I had a discussion with Security Police and the NCOIC, with the major standing right there as a witness, said that my serving at St. Nicholas Cathedral definitely was not considered a security violation. I went to him because later I would be serving with the Metropolitan of Czechoslovakia. He said that this also would not be considered a contact unless he or one of his staff started asking me questions about the military.

Vladimir's two sons (Mark and Timothy) are also friends of mine, and, of course, so is is wife Eleanor.

As I write this page, I remember one time Stephanie had a long ribbon pinned to her shoulder and she was pretending that she was a deacon. All of us who witnessed this loved it. We hope that this was a sign that she will be an active member of the Church for life.

Many times the Skubys gave me a ride home from church and they took me to my front door. Some others would give me a ride and drop me off at the Pentagon Subway Station. I lived across the street from the Huntington Subway Station.

Of course I took advantage of the opportunity to take photographs of the cathedral. I hope to go back again and take more photographs. This place is a real challenge to photographs, but it is a magnificent house of worship. Every time I go there or see photographs of the interior, I remember the work being done while I was in the seminary. One weekend we could not do the Entrance because scaffolding was in the way. What a small sacrifice for such a magnificent temple!

Grant, O Lord, eternal rest to the soul of Thy servant Vladimir, and make his memory to be eternal.

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