Lloyd Valdemar "Skippy" Baxter (December 6, 1919 – December 18, 2012) was an American

figure skater Figure skating is a sport in which individuals, pairs, or groups perform on figure skates on ice. It was the first winter sport to be included in the Olympic Games, when contested at the 1908 Olympics in London. The Olympic disciplines are m ...

. Born in

Saskatchewan Saskatchewan ( ; ) is a province in western Canada, bordered on the west by Alberta, on the north by the Northwest Territories, on the east by Manitoba, to the northeast by Nunavut, and on the south by the U.S. states of Montana and North ...

, Canada, his family moved to

Oakland, California Oakland is the largest city and the county seat of Alameda County, California, United States. A major West Coast of the United States, West Coast port, Oakland is the largest city in the East Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area, the third ...

when he was 1 year of age. Skippy started his skating career as a speed skater. Often winning awards as a youth Speed skater in Oakland, California. Then later, he won two medals at the 1940

United States Figure Skating Championships The U.S. Figure Skating Championships is a figure skating competition held annually to crown the national champions of the United States. The competition is sanctioned by U.S. Figure Skating. In the U.S. skating community, the event is ofte ...

: a bronze in men's singles and a silver in

pair skating Pair skating is a figure skating discipline defined by the International Skating Union (ISU) as "the skating of two persons in unison who perform their movements in such harmony with each other as to give the impression of genuine Pair Skating a ...

with

Hedy Stenuf Hedy Stenuf Byram (July 18, 1922 – November 7, 2010) was an Austrian figure skater who later competed for France and the United States. Representing the United States, she became a two-time World medalist. Life and career Stenuf firs ...

. Baxter went on to skate professionally with the Ice Capades, working with

Sonja Henie Sonja Henie (8 April 1912 – 12 October 1969) was a Norwegian figure skater and film star. She was a three-time Olympic champion (1928, 1932, 1936) in women's singles, a ten-time World champion (1927–1936) and a six-time European champion ...

in her shows. Skippy and his brother Meryl Baxter owned an ice rink in Santa Rosa, California on Summerfield Road, where the famous cartoonist Charles Schulz would take his family for skating lessons. It was there that Charles and Skippy Baxter formed a close friendship that lasted until the death of Charles Schulz. Baxter choreographed a segment for the 1969 animated film ''

A Boy Named Charlie Brown ''A Boy Named Charlie Brown'' is a 1969 American animated musical comedy film, produced by Cinema Center Films, distributed by National General Pictures, and directed by Bill Melendez. It is the first feature film based on the ''Peanuts'' c ...

'', in which

Snoopy Snoopy is an anthropomorphic beagle in the comic strip ''Peanuts'' by Charles M. Schulz. He can also be found in all of the ''Peanuts'' films and television specials. Since his debut on October 4, 1950, Snoopy has become one of the most recog ...

skates. He later coached figure skating in Northern California at the Redwood Empire Ice Arena in Santa Rosa, California. Charles Schulz built the rink while Skippy and his brother Meryl Baxter helped run and operate the rink. Skippy was inducted into the

United States Figure Skating Hall of Fame The United States Figure Skating Hall of Fame serves as a repository for the sport of figure skating. The United States Figure Skating Hall of Fame is where the greatest names in the history of the sport are honored. To be inducted into it is consi ...

in 2003.

Results

(men's singles) (pairs with Stenuf)

Early life

Lloyd Baxter, having endured an accident as a youth with a tractor, which almost resulted in a leg amputation, began skating at the urging of his mother to strengthen his leg to avoid amputation. In turn, began his career as a champion youth speed skater. Baxter enlisted in the United States army in 1943 and served in Northern Italy during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

with the

10th Mountain Division The 10th Mountain Division (Light Infantry) is a light infantry division (military), division in the United States Army based at Fort Drum, New York. Formerly designated as a mountain warfare unit, the division was the only one of its size in t ...

, along with his brother Meryl Baxter. They were granted leave on weekends to continue performing in Ice Shows. Baxter was on the United States Olympic Figure Skating team, but because of the war and his enlistment, the Winter Olympics were cancelled that year.

References

2012 deaths 1919 births American male single skaters American male pair skaters Sportspeople from Saskatchewan Sportspeople from Oakland, California United States Army personnel of World War II United States Army soldiers {{US-figure-skating-bio-stub