Skylstad, William
Biographical note
William Stephen Skylstad was born in Omak, Washington, in 1934, and grew up in the Methow Valley. He was ordained a Catholic priest in the Diocese of Spokane in 1960, then served as an assistant pastor in Pullman, Washington. In 1966, he graduated from Gonzaga University in Spokane. Skylstad became bishop of the Diocese of Yakima, Washington, in 1977, and served as bishop of the Diocese of Spokane, Washington, from 1990 to 2010. He was appointed as apostolic administrator of the Diocese of Baker, Oregon, in 2011, and retired in 2012. An advocate for the Columbia River, Skylstad was one of 12 bishops in the Pacific Northwest and Canada who jointly issued a February 2001 pastoral letter about the impact of dams on the river.
Sources: Vital records in Ancestry.com; information provided by Skylstad in his interview; https://www.catholic-hierarchy.org/bishop/bskylstad.html, accessed March 27, 2025; http://waterplanet.ws/ethics/Bishop_William_Skylstad.html, accessed March 27, 2025.
Found in 1 Collection or Record:
Oral history interview with William S. Skylstad
Oral history interview with Bishop William S. Skylstad, conducted by Jim Strassmaier on May 22, 2000, as part of the Columbia River Dissenters Oral History Series. Skylstad discusses a pastoral letter he helped to draft, regarding damage dams have caused in the Columbia River Basin.