James Braden Skelton Sr.

James Skelton, Sr., 57, Demossville

James Braden Skelton, Sr., 57, of Demossville, Ky., passed away on Tuesday, March 23, 2004, at the St. Luke Hospital West in Florence, Ky. Born on August 10, 1946 in Loma Linda, California, he was a son of the late Roland Barry and Willie Irene Sapp Skelton, Sr. He graduated from Beaumont Union High School in California and he graduated from Missouri Valley College with a Bachelor of Science Degree. Following his undergraduate studies, he earned a Masters Degree in Chemistry from Wichita State University. He married Traci J. (Laubach) Skelton on October 16, 1993, and his dear wife survives his passing. Early in his professional career, James worked as a chemist for Vulcan Materials in Wichita, Kansas. Next, he worked in distribution with Hydrite Chemical in Wisconsin. He continued progressing in management when he accepted a position in distribution with Harcros Chemicals in Kansas City, Kansas. Ellis and Everard, out of London, England, approached James with the opportunity to be President of one of their subsidiaries, HVC Chemical in Cincinnati, Ohio, and he accepted the challenge. After the sale of their company, he returned to Harcros Chemicals in 2003 as Vice President of Distribution and General Manager. He was a member of the North American Chemical Distrib-utors (NACD). James loved the outdoors-hiking, fishing, hunting, gardening, riding his tractor, and taking long walks with his dogs. He enjoyed woodworking and playing games on his X Box.