Harold "Skip" Cleveland Jr.

Harold “Skip” Cleveland Jr., 89, was born January 29, 1934 in Orange, New Jersey. He passed away on November 10, 2023 in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. Skip was the son of Harold Cleveland Sr. and Mildred McKenna, and is survived by his wife, Carol Romano-Brown; his brother Lee (Donna) Cleveland; 3 children, Wendy (Paul) Kelleher of Stonington, CT, and their son Alex; Harold “Jib” (Louise) Cleveland III of Goshen, KY and their daughters Kiersten and Hannah; Robin (Ken) Braun of Tucson AZ, and their children Taylor and MacKenzie ; 2 stepchildren, Clayton (Barbara) Brown and children Ryan, Connor and Payton; Chad (Tami) Brown and children Amber and Quinton. Skip was also survived by 4 nieces and nephews: Brian, Bruce, Glen and Michelle.

To know Skip was to love him, he was sharp as a tack until the very end. He had a quick wit, clever sense of humor, and owned every room he walked into.

From athlete to business executive, Skip Cleveland excelled at everything he put his mind to. From his athletic roots at Grover Cleveland High School in West Caldwell, New Jersey, he was recruited to play football for top tier collegiate programs, with legendary Vince Lombardi once making a house call at the Clevelands. Skip went on to play football at the United States Naval Academy. After completing his degree at the New Jersey Institute of Technology, he became a successful business executive at several companies including Curtis Wright, and served as President of Fermont Corp, and Vice President of Science Accessories Corp.

Outside of his career, Skip was a jack of all trades and really a master at all of them. He loved airplanes, skiing, sailing, tennis, football, and his favorite, golf. He passed on many of these passions to his family! In all the things Skip did, his competitive spirit was at the heart of it.

Following an early retirement, he spent much of his time in Vermont playing golf and enjoying his many other hobbies. In recent years he relocated with Carol to Myrtle Beach, SC to spend time there for the winters.

As a friend wrote “I always went out of my way to be in his orbit. He was so smart, funny and authentic.” May we all be thankful to have been in his orbit, we are better for it.

A service will be held at 4:00 P.M. on Thursday, December 14th 2023,  at McMillan-Small Funeral Home in Myrtle Beach, SC and also a memorial in June, 2024 in Vermont, more information to follow.

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