Lydia was born on December 8, 1907, in her family farmhouse near Beadle Hill, in Easton.  At one hundred and four years old, she is the oldest living member of the Skiffs, one of the great, historical families of the Greenwich area.  Lydia notes: “My last name, Skiff, is English. I believe the original Skiff …came here in 1637” in Sandwich, Massachusetts.  The Skiff’s settled in Easton around 1833.

Lydia was one of eight children born to Edward “EJ” Skiff and Carrie E. Beadle.  EJ’s first wife had died of consumption (tuberculosis) and Lydia had three half-brothers from her father’s earlier marriage as well as five brothers and one sister. Carrie was the valedictorian of 20^th GCS graduating class, in 1899, and went on to become a schoolteacher.  EJ was a farmer and had a grocery route for, delivering to neighbors. In 1908, he purchased the attached stores on the corner of Hill and Main Streets, in Greenwich, to open Skiffs Market and Dry Goods stores.

In Lydia’s early years, her family lived at the farmhouse and in 1910 the Skiffs moved to 9 Academy Street, owned today by Daniel and Michele Spigner. Over Lydia’s youth, the family resided at either the farmhouse or the Academy Street home. The village location provided more ready access to the stores and Lydia has childhood memories of walking along the top of the property’s marble wall, which still lines the front yard of the home today. She also loved riding horses at both the farm in the village. In those days, there was a water stand for horses on Main Street.

Lydia in 1926 Senior Class photo

In many respects, Lydia’s core experience growing up in Greenwich parallels the lives of many children today. Her family was closely-knit and attended church together on Sundays. Lydia loved to swim and enjoyed the Battenkill River and Hedges Lake. The Skiffs attended the Washington County Fair and were active in village life with neighbors and store customers. Of course, there were no videos or DVDs then, but the Skiffs had a crystal radio set in their home and a village movie house, with silent films and a piano player (“Mrs. Foster” at one time). Lydia recalls watching the Whipple City Parade and in winters, ice skating and riding down snowy hills on “…sleighs or skip jacks.”

Before ninth grade at GCHS, Lydia attended country school, with fewer than thirty students in a one-room schoolhouse. “School started at 9:00 a.m. and ended at 4:00 p.m. We had one hour lunch and most brought bags of food. Recess was fifteen minutes in the morning and the same in the afternoon.”   During the years that she lived on the farm in Easton, she would take the train to get to school in Greenwich.  The station was a three mile walk from her home.

Lydia remembers Mr. Ezra Benedict, her high school principal and his daughter, Esther Benedict, who was Lydia’s good friend and “The smartest kid in school….”  Lydia enjoyed English, but not math. Her greater talents were in the arts and she enjoys singing to this day. “My hero was my voice teacher, Byrd Eddy”. Lydia “… loved singing and practicing. The best teachers were my fourth grade teacher, Mr. Ryan and my fifth grade teacher, Amy Biggard. The best high school teacher was Mildred Stewart, who taught English.”  Upon reflection, Lydia wishes that she had studied harder in high school.

Two years after graduating from GCS, Lydia visited her cousin, Elma Becker, in New York City. Elma owned a cafeteria on East 42nd Street, in Manhattan. Elma took Lydia to Pratt Institute and enrolled her in a course of Costume Design. Lydia went on to graduate with degrees in Dressmaking and Costume Design. Her designs were featured in the New York City fashion magazine Women’s Wear Daily.

In 1930, Lydia married George Ernst, an engineer, at the Presbyterian Church on Hill Street which would later join with the Reformed Church to form the United Church of Greenwich located on Salem Street. George and Lydia lived in Baldwin, Long Island. During this time, Lydia continued to study voice, with a Julliard School singer and remembers: “I had several opera singers I’d listen to when they sang at the Metropolitan Opera House…”

Click on photo to see large version of the Skiff Stores

Lydia’s two daughters- Rhoda Lee Ernst (b. 8/25/33) and Elizabeth Butler Ernst (b. 10/28/37) were born at Brooklyn Hospital in the Baldwin years. Sometimes the family would travel to Jones Beach, where Lydia continued to enjoy swimming. In the mid-nineteen forties, the Ernst family’s life changed directions. George had just accepted an engineering position in South America and the family was preparing to move to Chile, when Lydia’s sister, Mary, was killed in an automobile accident.  Mary had been managing the Skiff Dry Goods store in Greenwich. After family discussions, the Ernst’s move to Chile was cancelled and in January of 1945, Lydia returned to Greenwich, to manage the Skiff Dry Goods Store. Her family moved into the Academy Street home of her youth. Nina Tice, the cashier of the attached Skiff Market, sold George and Lydia the property known as “Journey’s End,” on Assembly Point, Lake George.” Journey’s End” became a weekend and summer destination for the Ernsts and Lydia had her own beach for family swimming.  Lydia loved entertaining family and friends at the cottage.  Many years later, the original cottage was replaced with a lake home and Lydia still owns the property today.

Painting by Lydia Skiff Ernst

The Skiff stores were successful Main Street businesses and Lydia enjoyed being “home,” again, but challenges awaited her.  In 1951, the stores burned in a fire. In those days, the building was three stories high, but following the fire, it was reduced to the present two. The Dry Goods store was relocated to Mill Hollow, but over the years, the location proved less successful, given its lesser accessibility for downtown shoppers. By 1960, the store was reopened on Main Street, across the street and South of the former Main Street address (Union Village Limited today). In the new store, Lydia incorporated her expertise in clothing and the store was renamed Skiff’s Dry Goods and Sportswear.  George and Lydia moved into the apartment upstairs from the store. The store would operate until 1975, when the business was sold.

In retirement, Lydia took art classes, nurturing a talent she first discovered in her school years. All of the paintings displayed in her Lake George home are her original works.

The 1951 fire in which the Skiff Stores burned

Lydia has left an indelible impression on the Greenwich community. Her daughters have particularly special feelings about their mother. Rhoda notes that Lydia “…was always so lovely. Even now, her face lights up when people visit. “She still enjoys singing for family and friends. Liz remembers Lydia writing notes and visiting the homes of members of the Greenwich community who were ill. “She has always been kind and wonderful.”  Niece Shirley Murphy remembers watching Lydia pass by her house when going for walks “Sometimes she would be singing and she sang beautifully.”  Greenwich Town Supervisor Sara Idleman remembers “I used to love staying over at Aunt Lydia’s. She was so nice and it meant that I could walk to school.” Journal Press editor Tim Tefft remembers “ ‘Aunt’ Lydia and her husband, George, were great friends of my mom and dad and I can remember going to their cabin on ‘George’s Lake.’ “

In the summer before her one-hundredth birthday, in 2007, a large gathering of friends and family met at the Lake George home for a party honoring Lydia. It was a wonderful celebration of both Lydia’s life, extended family and the last century of life in Greenwich.

Today, Lydia lives in Tampa Florida. Her nine late siblings include: George (GCS 1912), Henry, Paul, Chester, John (’29), Frank, Mary (‘30), William (‘33) and Robert (‘40).

Store photos courtesy of The  Greenwich Journal and Salem Press

GCS Class of 1926  Click on photo for larger version

Click Here to View Past Selections