George Skakel (July 16, 1892 – October 3, 1955) was an American businessman and the founder of Great Lakes Carbon Corporation, part of

SGL Carbon SGL Carbon SE is a European company based in Germany. It is one of the world's leading manufacturers of products from carbon. With 31 production sites around the globe (17 in Europe, 9 in North America and 5 in Asia), and a service network in ov ...

. He was the father-in-law of

Robert F. Kennedy Robert Francis Kennedy (November 20, 1925June 6, 1968), also known by his initials RFK and by the nickname Bobby, was an American lawyer and politician who served as the 64th United States Attorney General from January 1961 to September 1964, ...

Early life and career

Skakel was born in

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolita ...

, to businessman James Curtis Skakel and Grace Mary Jordan, who were Protestants of

Dutch Dutch commonly refers to: * Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands * Dutch people () * Dutch language () Dutch may also refer to: Places * Dutch, West Virginia, a community in the United States * Pennsylvania Dutch Country People E ...

ancestry. He had an elder brother William Skakel, a younger sister Margaret Skakel, and a younger brother James Curtis Skakel Jr. Skakel began his career as a railroad shipping clerk earning $8 a week. While employed by the railroad, he noticed the price volatility of coal fines for coke, which is a byproduct of producing more-in-demand forms of coal. At most times, the coal mining companies were forced to store the coke or pay to have it disposed of in rivers. Skakel came up with an idea to purchase the coke from coal companies. In May 1919, Skakel and two partners put up $1,000 and established The Great Lakes Coal & Coke Company. The company would purchase the coke from coal companies and reprocess it into clean carbon which was used to produce aluminum. By 1929, Skakel had become a multi-millionaire. The business eventually grew into The Great Lakes Carbon Corporation, which became one of the largest privately held corporations in the United States. After Skakel's death in 1955, his sons George Jr. (who also died in a plane crash, in 1966) and James III took over the business.

Personal life

Skakel married his former secretary Ann Brannack (1892–1955) on November 25, 1917. They had seven children: *Georgeann Skakel Dowdle-Terrien (1918–1983) *James Curtis Skakel III (1921–1998) *George Skakel Jr. (1922–1966) *Rushton Walter Skakel (1923–2003), father of Thomas and

Michael Skakel Martha Elizabeth Moxley (August 16, 1960 – October 30, 1975) was a 15-year-old American high school student from Greenwich, Connecticut, who was murdered in 1975. Moxley was last seen alive spending time at the home of the Skakel fa ...

. *Patricia Sistine Skakel Cuffe (1925–2000) mother to

Ciarán Cuffe Ciarán Cuffe (born 3 April 1963) is an Irish politician who is a Member of the European Parliament (MEP) from Ireland for the Dublin constituency since July 2019. He is a member of the Green Party, part of the European Green Party. He previousl ...

of the

Green Party A green party is a formally organized political party based on the principles of green politics, such as social justice, environmentalism and nonviolence. Greens believe that these issues are inherently related to one another as a foundation ...

. *

Ethel Skakel Kennedy Ethel Kennedy (' Skakel; born April 11, 1928) is an American human rights advocate. She is the widow of U.S. Senator Robert F. Kennedy, a sister-in-law of President John F. Kennedy, and the sixth child of George Skakel and Ann Brannack. Shortly a ...

(born 1928) married

in June 1950. *Ann Skakel McCooey (born 1933).

Death

On October 3, 1955, Skakel and his wife Ann were killed when the private plane they were traveling in crashed near

Union City, Oklahoma Union City is a town in Canadian County, Oklahoma, United States. The population was 1,645 at the 2010 census, a 19.6 percent increase from 1,375 in 2000. It is part of the Oklahoma City metropolitan statistical area. History In 1889, a post o ...

. George and Ann Skakel are buried at Saint Mary's Cemetery in

Greenwich, Connecticut Greenwich (, ) is a New England town, town in southwestern Fairfield County, Connecticut, United States. At the 2020 United States Census, 2020 census, the town had a total population of 63,518. The largest town on Connecticut's Gold Coast (Conne ...

Early life and career

Personal life

Death

References

Further reading