Our classmate, Paul Stahl, has stayed in touch with several Irvington faculty members and sent us some information about a history teacher some of us had at Myrtle Ave. Junior High. I had him in 7th grade. The course was about New Jersey history. Mr. Skirbst was a dynamic teacher who made history come alive. I remember he would often complain that just learning names and dates meant you were learning about “dry bones” and he wanted to flesh out the story of our past.
Mr. Skirbst was an Irvington kid and an IHS graduate. He even was a town councilman.
Paul was in touch with Mrs. Skirbst and she gave him five books he had written. His expertise was in NJ history, especially the Revolutionary War. She also sent him a copy of the Celebration o Life that was held for him.
Mr. Skirbst was involved in more than just teaching, as this bio shows. (He was also a Mason, like Paul.)
Some books by Mr. Skirbst:
Irvington High School Class of 1971 
Paul also told me: “Yesterday I had a lovely but brief meeting with Mrs. Ruth Skirbst (in the spring I’m taking her to lunch) at her home, where she graciously gave me books that Henry had written. One is Tales & Trails which collected a series of articles he had written for the STAR GAZETTE, Hackettstown’s newspaper in the 1980s. For his 75th birthday, his family found all of his articles that were published and had them made into a book .
LikeLike