Obituary: Lemuel 'Skip' Odell, a Former Ellington Little League Coach

Below is an obituary submitted by a family member, Matan Odell.

Lemuel “Skip” Walter Odell III, 55, of South Windsor, beloved husband, father and grandfather, passed away on Friday, November 1, 2013, at Manchester Hospital.

He was born and raised in Manchester where he was well known as a wrestling champion and later graduated to the University of Massachusetts at Amherst where he continued his wrestling career.

Skip is survived by his loving wife of 23 years, Gayle (Landry) Odell, as well as his six children and two grandchildren.  His children; Lemuel Walter Odell IV of Istanbul, Turkey; Jannell (Odell) Lee, her husband Bill and their two children Brayden and Payton of Griswold; Dustin Odell of Ellington; and Jake, Sam and Max Odell of South Windsor, all mourn the loss of their father and grandfather.

He is also survived by his brother Scott Odell, wife Sue and their two children Tyler and Rebecca of Devon, Pennsylvania; his brother Mark Odell, wife Sheri and their two children Stephanie and Michael; and his sister Cheryl Kendig, her husband David and their four children Jarod, Danny, Luke and Celeb of Dalton, Massachusetts; as well as two sisters in law and their families; Shereen Landry of Enfield and Celine Peach, her husband Jeffrey and their children Macy and Jeffrey of Enfield.

For more than 25 years Skip worked as a production manager in the air and space manufacturing industry; of which he retired several years ago to focus on his family and to pursue his love of sports coaching.   He was a UConn football season ticket holder, never missing a game, a life-long New York Yankees fan.  He loved hard work and was usually seen working late into the evening in his yard.

He was a South Windsor youth wrestling coach, a South Windsor Panthers football coach, a South Windsor and Ellington little league baseball coach, and was well known on the regional and national wrestling circuit.   He touched the lives of many young athletes most notably through his passion, support and unmistakable voice thundering encouragement from the sidelines.    His three youngest sons plan on carrying his love of wrestling into the future.  Jake will continue wrestling at the Steven’s Institute of Technology, Sam at the U.S. Naval Academy and Max will take wrestling far beyond South Windsor High School.

A memorial service will be held on Thursday, November 7, 2013, at 5:00 pm, at Our Savior Lutheran Church, 239 Graham Road, in South Windsor, with a reception to follow.

In lieu of flowers the family requests that donations be made in Skip’s honor to USA Wrestling CT c/o Odell Family Fund; mail to: Sara Jacach 20 Lakeview Terrace, Derby, CT. 06418 (sjadach23@aol.com).