William L. Skees Obituary - Visitation & Funeral Information

William ("Bill") L. Skees, Jr. of Louisville, Kentucky passed away peacefully in Estero, Florida on October 11, 2020. Bill was born in Indianapolis, Indiana on January 26, 1947 to Marion Catherine (Fagan) and William Leonard Skees the first. He graduated from Chatard High School in 1965, and attended Ball State University. He attended Indiana School of Law where he graduated magna cum laude with a doctor of jurisprudence. He started his career as an attorney for Ice Miller, LLP in Indianapolis. In 1980 Bill worked as a Corporate and Public Finance Partner at Frost Brown Todd from 1980 to 2014, and was head of the Public Finance practice for most of that time. He served as bond counsel for The Turnpike Authority of Kentucky in the 1980s and he oversaw the closing of more than $2.5 billion of Turnpike Authority revenue bonds over a 10 year period, including refunding bonds which saved the Commonwealth of Kentucky millions of dollars in interest costs. Bill also acted as bond counsel for the Kentucky Housing Corporation for many years. He was actively involved in revitalizing downtown Louisville through his work as bond counsel on many downtown renovation projects, often involving creative and complex financings. He was also involved in hundreds of municipal bond issues throughout Kentucky, Indiana and 17 other states, totaling billions of dollars. During his distinguished career, Bill served on several boards, including Indiana University School of Law, Louisville Housing Development Corporation, Stage One and Citizens Advisory Council, City of Louisville Board of Aldermen on Government Reorganization and Merger. Bill was President and served on the Board of Stage One Children's Theatre for 20 years. Bill earned numerous awards for his professional work and community leadership. He was named to Who's Who in American Law by the National Association of Bond Lawyers. Former Louisville Mayor Harvey Sloane presented Bill with the Distinguished Citizens Award. Bill was also awarded a Certificate of Merit from the Louisville Board of Aldermen and a Distinguished Service Award from the Indianapolis Chapter of Disabled American Veterans. Bill is survived by his wife, Cindy Singleton Keeton Skees, and his 7 children, Kristina Carlson and husband Ron (Longmont, Colorado); Elizabeth Garrison (Honolulu Hawaii); Catherine Skees (Louisville, KY); Samuel Skees and (Lilli) (St. Louis, Missouri); Kasey Keeton and (Dawn) (Louisville, KY); Toby Keeton and wife (Emilie) (Overland Park, Kansas); Brandi Kleinhenz and husband (Steve) (Mt. Washington, KY); and 9 grandchildren, Cameron Carlson; Connor Carlson; Kennedy Keeton; Keeton Kleinhenz; Claire Kleinhenz; Kalei Garrison; Kash Keeton; Dottie Keeton; Romy Keeton and preceded in death an infant son, William Leonard Skees III and Sister Anita Alexander and husband Greg (Lawrenceville, Georgia) and nephew Christopher Alexander (Recife, Brazil) and niece Kaylie Anand and husband (Bobby) (Los Angeles, California). On line condolences may be offered to the family by visiting www.ShikanyFuneralHome.com. A Celebration of Life will be planned at a later date.

William L. Skees

January 26, 1947 - October 11, 2020