- Date Of Birth: May 29, 1923
- Date Of Death: May 5, 2007
- State: Connecticut
Muriel (Fitzgerald) Skelte, 83, passed away peacefully at Ingraham Manor on May 5, 2007. She was the wife of Edward Skelte whom she married on July 10, 1954. A long time resident of Bristol, she had resided at 239 Belridge Road.
Muriel grew up in Oakville, Connecticut and went into nursing after graduating from Watertown High School. She trained at Waterbury Hospital, served as a naval nurse for one year before continuing her nursing education at the University of Connecticut where she obtained her degree in Public Health. She continued her nursing education at Simmons College, Boston. She worked as a public health nurse in Waterbury and as a school nurse in West Hartford. She changed careers and became an elementary school teacher getting her Masters Degree from Southern Connecticut State College. She retired in 1985 from the Hartford school system where she taught third grade. She loved teaching and went to Puerto Rico to learn more about the culture so she could better meet the needs of her students. She loved skiing, golf and especially tennis and competed in tournaments at Copper Ledges and at Chippanee Country Club and in city tournaments. She often partnered with her son, Mark, and her husband, Edward, in mixed doubles. In retirement she was very active in the Bristol Garden Club. She was past secretary of the former Bristol Girls Club, now the Family Center. She was a member of the Connecticut Nurses Association and the Connecticut Teachers Association.
Survivors are her husband of 52 years, Edward Skelte, and her son, Mark and his wife, Elizabeth of Wilsonville, Oregon. Her surviving grandchildren are Edward J. Skelte of McKinney, Texas, Lauren Skelte and Christopher Skelte of West Lynn, Oregon. Surviving also are her brothers, Timothy Paul Fitzgerald of Bozeman, Montana, John Fitzgerald of Wallingford, Ct. and Joseph Fitzgerald of Madison, Ct., along with numerous nieces and nephews scattered all over the country.
She is preceded in death by her parents, Timothy Paul and Anna (Moore) Fitzgerald, her sister, Elizabeth (Betty) and three brothers, Thomas, William, and Maurice. She was a cancer survivor, but was stricken with Alzheimer’s and this once very sharp and funny woman declined from 1993 to the present.
