Walter "Skip" A. Long, Jr.

On Sunday, August 10th, Walter A. (Skip) Long, Jr passed quietly from this life which was surprising given how loudly he lived. A fifth generation Nashvillian, he was the first of four children born to Walter A. and Elsie (Griffin) Long. As a child, he lived across from the Belle Meade golf course which he routinely snuck onto to hit golf balls and play in the creek. His career in mischief making was already highly developed by the age of 5 when he and his cousin David Earl weren’t allowed to go with their mothers to the store. They crouched down on the large, chrome, front bumper of the car and held on, literally for dear life. When their mothers pulled into a parking space they could see their boys in the reflection of the glass store front. Their mothers nearly died of heart attacks and Skip and David Earl couldn’t sit comfortably for a long time. As a youth, Skip worked at the Voss family home in West Meade with their stablehand, Sam, tending to horses which he loved.

Skip reluctantly attended Hillsboro High School, often cutting class to sneak off to the Sweet Shop on 21st Avenue to shoot pool and throw dice. Fortunately, he decided to quit school and join the Navy at age 17 where he and all the other new recruits were immediately shown the brig, motivating Skip to get in line and stay there. During his 23 year Navy career, he was routinely evaluated in the top 2%. He achieved the rank of Chief years ahead of schedule and retired as a beloved Senior Chief who had mentored many other young sailors in their careers.

The Navy took him to Roda Spain, Keflavik Iceland, Key West Florida and all over the world. He served in Vietnam on a Seal Support team. His two main ships were the USS Trenton and The USS England. His best friend at the time was Tex Boyd, with whom he shot pool, played poker, bar hopped and played golf all over the world. He learned the hard way that tequila was not his friend - 3 tries resulted in 3 broken noses (all his). The rest of his Navy stories aren’t appropriate for an obituary.

He was an amazing golfer - scratch from the tips - with a beautiful swing. As rowdy as he could be off the course, he was grace epitomized on the course. He had 5 hole in ones and won many tournaments and a lot of money, often from unsuspecting younger players. He taught his daughter Kelly and grandson Caleb to never take mulligans, play your ball down, putt until it’s in the hole and COUNT EVERYTHING.

In 1963 his cousin who was a Peabody student set Skip up on a blind date with a beautiful and talented Home Economics student, Ila Crain. He knew he had his hands full when she walked out with LONG white gloves on to go see the movie Cleopatra. Within the year they had eloped and moved to Iceland, then Key West where they had their only child, Kelly.

This is where things went sideways. Skip and Ila divorced and Ila moved back to Nashville so Skip shipped out to Vietnam. After retiring from the Navy many years later, Skip moved to Texas and began a successful career as a car salesman and manager. Texas has always been where his cowboy’s heart felt most at home. Skip and Ila didn’t speak for 20 years.

When Skip reunited with Kelly in 1989 he discovered that a female carbon copy of himself (Kelly) had been plaguing Ila for 20 years. Skip and Ila saw each other again and it was off to the races once more. Less than a year later they eloped again (does this sound familiar?). In 1991 he became a grandfather to his only grandchild, Caleb Kiernon, aka Knucklehead. He was a loving grandfather; teasing and inspiring mischief in his grandson.

During act two of the Skip and Ila show, Skip was a car lot manager and eventually owned his own lot until he retired from health complications in the early 2000s. Ila always took incredible care of Skip, and this was never more true than in his last two decades. In his final years, he and Ila spent a lot of time with their daughter Kelly, his brother in law Roy Crain and his sister in law Lois Suffridge, having dinner, playing cards, telling endless stories and constantly laughing with that whole-hearted, joyful laugh. He always made everyone’s day more interesting.

His last few months were spent at Vitality Senior Living in Hendersonville and with the help of caregiver Tammie Kendall. Tammie, Sharina, Rosie, Brittany and the rest of the staff all made his time there special, for which Skip’s family will be forever grateful. Incredibly, Skip outlived his younger brothers and sisters so he leaves behind his wife, Ila Crain Long, his daughter, Kelly Long Magill, and his grandson, Ian Caleb Kiernon, his sister in law Lois Suffridge and sister in law Janyce Forehand (Michael) and his brother in law Roy Crain as well as nieces and nephews James Scott Lamberson (Bebe), Christopher Lee Lamberson (Melanie), Dana Michelle Beene (Donnie) and Drew Michael Forehand (Amanda).

There was only one Skipper Long - he could never be anyone other than who he was. There will never be another. We love him to the bone and we will all miss him for the rest of our lives.

The family will have a graveside service followed by a night at a honky tonk sometime in September. For details, contact Kelly Magill at 1968kellymagill@gmail.com If you would like to send a remembrance, please donate to your local animal shelter.