PLATTSBURGH---Douglas Skopp passed away on May 27, 2018, after a long and valiant struggle with cancer. He was surrounded by family and friends in the last days of his life.

Doug leaves behind his beloved wife Evelyne, his son Andrew, his five grandsons, the Greene and Tomar in laws and his "honorary daughter", Dale Walsh, and her family.

Doug was born in Los Angeles California on June 11th 1941. He travelled east after high school to study at Dartmouth College, where he received his B.A. in 1963. He later received his Ph.D. in History from Brown University. During his undergraduate years he traveled to Germany, where he taught English for a year and met his wife Evelyne.

He came to the State University of New York at Plattsburgh in 1972, as a member of the History Department, where he remained until his retirement in 2006. In 1994 he was promoted to the rank of Distinguished Teaching Professor. He also served as the college's official historian; a position he held until his death. In 1989 he authored a beautiful history of the college for its Centennial Celebration entitled "Bright With Promise."

During his more than 40 years of engagement with the college, there was little that his gentle but inspiring leadership did not impact. Among many roles, at various times, he served as Chair of the History Department, Acting Associate Vice President for Academic Affairs, Co-Director of the Center for Teaching Excellence, Presiding Officer of the Faculty, Acting Director of the Institute for Ethics in Public life, where he played a central role for nearly twenty years.

In honor of their contributions to the College and their "efforts to bear witness and bring an end to genocide," in 2012, a permanent gallery in Feinberg Library was named the Douglas and Evelyne Skopp Holocaust Memorial Gallery.

Doug was a beloved teacher and member of the college community. In addition to his family, he leaves behind countless dear friends, colleagues and students who are grateful for the way his compassionate, humane, and learned presence profoundly touched their lives. He is among a small number of people in the history of the college whose lives genuinely shaped its character and destiny.

A public memorial service will be held at a future date.

To share a photo, story, or condolence with Doug's family, please visit www.rwwalkerfh.com .