Meet Jacob
Jacob Ryan Skowronski was a beloved son, brother, cousin, nephew, grandson, uncle, friend, community member and so much more. In his life he dedicated himself to making the world a better place through his business idea, Emerald Gardens. He planned to buy land and feed the hungry. Shortly before his tragic passing, he was diagnosed with a mental illness. During treatment at a Kansas City hospital, he noticed a need for books, games, and activities for fellow patients. Jacob was a deep, passionate soul with a burning desire to help others. He exemplified this in many areas of his life. Jacob wanted to “do good in this world” and promised to “make a difference.” In a book for his new baby niece, he once wrote, “The Power to bring Beauty to the Earth lies in your Heart.”
Leila’s Book
My little brother often gave books as gifts to our kids. As a book lover myself, just like Jacob, I love when our kids get books as gifts and we can add them to our bookshelf. I remember the day when Jacob gave our daughter, Leila, The Cloud Spinner as a Christmas gift. It is a children’s book with a powerful message, and absolutely beautiful illustrations. Of course he gave her another book along with it, Dogzilla, a book purely for fun! I loved that. A children’s book with an important message, and the other–just to be silly and fun, as kids should be. As a reader myself, I know that most importantly Jacob just wanted to inspire a love for reading, whatever the book may be! But The Cloud Spinner is such a special book, and inside the cover, Jacob hand wrote a message to Leila: “the Power to bring Beauty to the Earth lies in your heart.” What a perfect representation of my little brother’s heart. The Cloud Spinner is a story about a young boy with a special gift and a love for the Earth. It depicts an appreciation for nature and the importance of preservation, and also the ability to recognize beauty in everything and everywhere we look. This is how Jacob saw the world. We will continue to read this book and think of Jacob with our own kids, and the kids I teach in my classroom as well. I hope to inspire others to appreciate each persons’ uniqueness and special gifts, and the ability to find beauty in all of life’s adventures! I know how important this was to Jacob. Love and miss you, little brother.
Guitar Story
The following is a message from Jeremy Lance to Jacob’s roommate & bandmate, Bryce Gibson:
“My companion and I, Elder Marshall, had a day devoid of any real human connection. Besides the fact that people aren’t open to religion for one reason for another, I think it’s easy for mormon missionaries to be mistaken for annoying door-to-door salesman. So after a full day of having doors slammed in our faces, Elder Marshall and I reach the culdesac of a neighborhood that we hadn’t really tried to find contacts in before. People were nice enough that we had at least found a little bit of motivation to keep knocking to find someone to talk to. After a while in that neighborhood, we decided to knock on one more door. As I approach the door to knock, I heard the unmistakable sound of a person playing guitar (not a recording or anything). I knock pretty loudly to ensure that I can be heard. Jacob answers the door, to which my companion and I introduce ourselves. My introduction was immediately followed by, “dude, can I see you play guitar?”, to which Jacob immediately invites myself and my companion in to the apartment. We were immediately serenaded by you and Jacob, you were playing White Stripes, I believe. Only after a couple songs, Jacob notices my complete and undivided attention to the music and Jacob’s playing. Jacob then asks, “You look like you want to give this guitar a try”. To which I respond with an immediate, “yes”.
My playing must have been satisfactory enough that you and Jacob didn’t ask me for the guitar back. And time must have flown by quick enough that I noticed that my companion started to look a little bored. This could also be that our mission has rules that state that we should really only listen to gospel-centered music (to keep our thoughts focused on Christ). I suppose I felt a little guilty for having played such exquisite music with such exquisite people that I figured it was time to go. I only get out the words, “well, we should probably…”, before Jacob interrupts me and says, “so who are you guys”.
This is a missionary’s favorite question because we get to talk about our faith and help others find their faith. Jacob was so polite and seemingly-interested in what we were saying that we stayed way longer in the apartment than we ever had at a person’s house (another mission rule: we are expected to keep our visits brief). I could immediately recognize that Jacob was searching for truth, and his heart and mind were truly open to hearing anything that could help him understand his God. You see, Jacob is a very special person. All of us wonder where God is, and why does he not show himself, but some of us get so busy with daily life that we become complacent and wait for God to show himself or give us some sign. But Jacob was an active seeker of the Lord. I don’t feel any disappointment for not having converted Jacob to my religion. But I am so proud of the fact that I got to meet such an honest soul. Jacob will always inspire me with his example. I have no doubt that Jacob’s death allowed him to meet the Lord, and that he is so much closer to God than he was before his death. I’m not sure if I made a difference in Jacob’s life, but he sure made a difference in mine.”
15 and the Mahomies Foundation Stone
I bought this paver to honor my nephew, Jacob Skowronski, who was taken from us far too soon. The inscription “Keep doing Good in this World” is a quote he had written to a friend who lived a life of service to others. Jacob loved Kansas City, The Chiefs, and his Family. He always saw the good in people and wanted to make a difference in this world. He knows our children are our future, and I smile knowing he would love to be a part of building this park which will provide children a safe place to play and grow, and dream!
Sheri Nichols
Dear Skowronski family & friends of Jacob,
I met Jacob in the fall of 2014. I was a missionary for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and I was assigned to Columbia, Missouri, where I met Jacob. I only got to know Jacob over the course of a few months, but that was enough time to connect over Jacob’s great passion; music. Jacob wrote this song. I remembered this song even after I left Columbia. Unbeknownst to me, I actually possessed a recording of Jacob playing this song on my little field recorder. So when I decided to actually make this project a reality, I recreated the song from my memory. I then found the original recording of Jacob presenting this snippet of his new song to me. That snippet is part of the recording included below (after my version of the song ends). When I heard the news of Jacob’s death, I was heartbroken. The world truly lost one of her best souls that day. This song belongs to Jacob, but this is my tribute to him. I hope that he will consider the song to be finished as if I had helped him to finish it. I miss you, Jacob.
Friends of Jacob that are musicians: I purposefully kept vocals off this song so that you could write your own lyric and sing over this in tribute to Jacob. The song is free so that you feel welcome to do that.
Sincerely,
Jeremy Lance