Christopher Skidmore - Loss of a Gamer

By David Brandt

Christopher Skidmore died while jogging on July 7, 2009, from complications arising from exercise-induced asthma and arterial disease. He was 26 years old, a junior at University of Wisconsin-La Crosse, and a cadet for the ROTC, having served nine years in the U.S. Army reserves.

A Canadian native, Chris moved to the U.S. in 1990 with his family. He did well in high school, both in academics and athletics, according to his mother, Becky. He started college in UW-Stevens Point, and began at UW-La Crosse in 2007, holding a 3.96 grade point average with a major in geography and a minor in political science.

Chris was a good friend, and enjoyed hanging out with others, especially if it involved gaming. Board games were his passion, with a focus on war games (particularly WWI and WWII). Anything from Settlers of Catan to Battlestar Galactica to Arkham Horror - if it was a board game, he owned it or played it. His collection was vast, taking up several bookcases. He often said, "This is it for a while. No more. I need to play what I have." A week later, he would excitedly tell us about the latest game coming by mail, or he would drop a hundred dollars (or more) at a convention. It was, in his words, an addiction.

Board games weren’t all he played. He loved computer games, especially the SIMS series. When the game ‘Spore’ was in the previews stage, he was constantly talking about it, playing with the sample game for hours a day. On the day it came out, he and I went to pick it up from Best Buy, and he chanted the name over and over: "Spore...Spore...Spore..." On the way back to his apartment, he just held the game in his hands, like a talisman. But this was Chris - excitable, fun loving, with very little care for what others around him thought.

Chris considered himself to be a bit eccentric, being his own person and holding ideas and hobbies outside the mainstream. He was not a religious person, but it would be tough to define him in that area. He read books on religion and philosophy, in between reading his fantasy/sci-fi books. He enjoyed knitting, and was ecstatic when he made his first hat. Running was not just exercise to him; he thoroughly enjoyed going for a run, and it was one of the first things he often did when we would come back from a convention.

Ah, the conventions. We attended a number of them, mostly the local anime and pop-culture cons. Hanging with other geeks was perfect for us, including going to the video game room, the vendor hall, and meeting assorted guest stars. Even hanging around the hotel room was fun; one year we spent two hours in the room with two friends, just chatting and wasting time. Of course, money was spent and liquor was consumed.

Gamers Reunion was the perfect convention for him, and he was already making plans to attend the 2009 convention several months beforehand. Talk about a convention made for Chris: a huge room full of all the latest games, some classics, and hours to do nothing but play them. He and I often talked about the near-insanity that ensued while playing the latest expansion for Arkham Horror during the 2008 convention (I’ve never seen a guy clutch his own head so hard...).

In the end, all that can be said was that he was my best friend, someone to game with, go barhopping with, or just hang out. His death is a loss for the gaming community, and I hope that during this convention - when you roll the dice, look at the latest German import, or argue with the guy trying to teach you the mechanics of the game - you’ll take a minute, or even a second, and remember that not everyone could make it. Chris wanted to make it. Now go sneak re-roll that critical failure!

Gamers Reunion Staff Response:

We would like to thank David for taking the time to write up this memorial for his friend Chris. We also want to thank Chris' family and friends for the generous donations toward this year's silent auction, to benefit the Ronald McDonald House, in Chris' name. We understand that many of the items being donated were items from Chris' personal inventory of games. Gamers Reunion is pleased and honored to dedicate this year's charity auction to Christopher Skidmore.