John “Skip” Gerald Dillon

John ‘Skip’ Gerald Dillon passed away on September 7, 2021, in Scottsdale, Arizona. He was born on January 23, 1945, in Dayton, Ohio. Skip graduated from Coronado High School in Scottsdale, Arizona in 1963 and later attended Hillsdale College in Michigan. Skip was drafted into the Army in January of 1970. He was awarded the National Defense Service Medal and was a sharpshooter. He was assigned to serve with Special Services working in entertainment on the base in Panama. After being mustered out of the Army, he drove from Panama to Arizona in a Volkswagen, later commenting that it was a harrowing experience. Skip worked as an actor and a stunt man in the entertainment industry. Skip, aka Sundance Kid, was a founding member of Guns for Hire, Inc, a Wild West group staging gun fights at various tourist venues in the Phoenix area. One of his favorite roles was that of a ‘drug store Indian’. He would dress up, wear a headdress of feathers and would sit perfectly still on a bench outside of a store or bar. He loved the opportunity when ladies and young children sat next to him wondering if he was real. Once they were confident, he was just a statue, he would put his hand up and say ‘how’. Of course, they would jump and scream then he would howl with laughter. Later, Skip had to get a real job, studied and became a residential general contractor working in California, Arizona, Georgia and Tennessee. In Nashville, he managed a store for Ames Tools for many years and more recently moved into selling granite countertop sales before retiring. He was easy going and loved to meet new friends anytime and anywhere; he definitely had the gift of gab. While visiting a movie set where a western was being filmed, Skip’s casual confidence led him to introduce himself to John Wayne, who invited Skip to join him for breakfast. On another occasion, he was invited to sing Harry Chapin’s All My Life’s A Circle on stage. Skip’s favorite story while in college was the time, he and a date saw a UFO while visiting ‘lovers’ lane’. He stuck to his story to the end even though the government told him it was ‘swamp gas’. Skip always wanted to stay as healthy as possible and would give himself goals such as walking two to four miles every day, goals which he always annually exceeded. He hiked with his walking stick, camped, traveled throughout the country he loved so much, especially the western states. He even joined a yoga class. Skip was especially proud of his feat of jumping out of an airplane and couldn’t wait to try the country’s longest zipline. Skip attended Hermitage Church of the Nazarene until his move back to the west. He participated in several community groups over the years. He loved his men’s groups, which included the Nashville Circle of Men and Kiva Men’s Group. He was very involved in ISA, (Institute of Self Actualization), where he met some of his lifelong friends. He was loved far and wide by people of every walk of life and respected by his nieces and nephews. Skip is recently succeeded in death by mother Barbara Bartlett Browne Dillon, preceded in death by his father John Fletcher Dillon and sister Sandra Arlene Dillon Vondrasek. He is survived by his sister Barbee (Bill) Bennington, daughter Mindi Dillon and grandson Mical Wesley. Skip is also survived by countless cousins, nieces, nephews and good friends as well as a few ex-wives. Scottsdale, Arizona Funeral: October 2, 2021 at 1:00 pm at Messenger’s Funeral Home New Lebanon, Ohio Funeral: October 8, 2021 at 11:00 am at Rogers Funeral Home Burial at Trissel Cemetery in New Lebanon, Ohio following services