Eugene Skiba was a "very quiet guy," family members said, but his voice had a big presence in the city of New Brighton, where for nearly three decades he worked as a reporter and editor of the New Brighton Bulletin.

Skiba was the "conscience of New Brighton," covering everything from school board and city council meetings to high school basketball. He wrote a widely read weekly column for the paper called "This and Data" and never missed a deadline, said Jim Schwartz, a former Bulletin reporter who later became its editor.

"He understood the importance of a reporter and editor being in the community and how to get to the basics of what was happening," Schwartz said.

Skiba died from complications of Parkinson's disease Friday at the New Brighton Care Center. He was 85.

Skiba was born in Mounds View Township and graduated in 1941 from the former Marshall High School in Minneapolis. He served as a navigator in the Air Force during World War II and "knew all the stars and constellations," said one of his daughters, Laurie Skiba of Edenville, Wash.

After the war, Eugene Skiba went to work as a rural mail carrier in what is now the city of Lexington. He met his wife of 50 years, Vernice, on the job. He also helped his brothers run a gas station and worked on Beisswenger's farm, now a hardware store on Long Lake Road.

The birth of 'This and Data'

A desire to write and a sense of public service led him into journalism, one year at the Rose Tribune in Roseville and 29 as a reporter and editor at the New Brighton Bulletin. In "This and Data," he offered his opinions and held governing bodies to high standards, but tried to remain as objective as possible, Laurie said.

When he retired on Sept. 2, 1988, Gov. Rudy Perpich declared it Eugene Skiba Day in Minnesota, and WCCO Radio named him its "Good Neighbor of the North."

In 1987, the New Brighton Area Historical Society tapped Skiba to pen a 300-page book for the city's centennial. Skiba was one of the founders of the society in 1980 and was instrumental in the "Save the Depot" campaign, preserving the railroad depot that now serves as the society's headquarters in Long Lake Regional Park.

"Whenever we had an activity, he was there," said Historical Society member Jerry Blanski. "In recent years he even sat on a pail so he could help pick rhubarb for our Rhubarb Festival. He was so dedicated."

Skiba played a role in the revitalization of the city's Stockyard Days celebration. He was a big reason St. John the Baptist Catholic Church restarted its Polish Buoya each fall. Skiba was a lifelong member of the church in New Brighton, where he was considered "a pillar of the congregation," Laurie said.

He enjoyed reading classics and mysteries, and liked classical and big band music.

In addition to his wife and daughter Laurie, Skiba is survived by two other daughters, Melissa Salisbury of Green Bay, Wis., and Janelle Skiba of New Brighton; a son, Gene Jr., of New Brighton, and 10 grandchildren.

Services will be held at 11 a.m. today at St. John the Baptist Catholic Church, 835 2nd Avenue NW., New Brighton. Visitation will be held one hour before services at the church.