ANDERSON – Fifteen years ago, Skip Ockomon was a drunk.
That’s how he tells it.
“I was all about self, and I was selfish,” he said. “You wouldn’t have wanted to know me back then.”
But, now, a 50-year-old Ockomon says he has turned his life over to God and spends the time he had used to drink, helping with community projects.
And, for his efforts and accomplishments, The Herald Bulletin’s editorial board has selected him as The Person of the Year.
The dedicated Anderson firefighter’s biggest project in 2009 was spearheading the Madison County Fire Rescue House.
Three families, whose homes were uninhabitable after fires, have lived in the house, so far, while they figured out their next step.
“We want this to be here so the fire victims can catch their breath,” Ockomon said. “All of their worries are taken care of.”
Ockomon coordinates with local community organizations, including Families Forever and Operation Love, to provide the displaced family with all of the living necessities and more than a few comforts of home.
“It’s something in his heart that he’s dedicated to public service,” said Diana Ockomon, Skip’s wife. “He always tells me that if you feel like you’re unhappy in your life, you should always reach out and help someone else.”
The most recent family to use the fire house were displaced by an electrical fire the day before Christmas Eve.
That night, Skip Ockomon contacted Holly Webb, 28, and made arrangements for her to move in on Christmas Eve.
At 2:30 a.m., Skip Ockomon couldn’t sleep.
“I kept thinking about all the things I needed to get the house ready,” he said.
So Skip Ockomon headed to Walmart to buy new sheets, a fire extinguisher and other odds and ends for Webb and her two children. When he got home at 6 a.m., community members started calling with offers to help.
“God put a vision in me, and He knew that I needed help; I can’t do any of this without help,” Skip Ockomon said.
Webb said that, when her family arrived, he told Rylee, 8, and Jaxin, 5, that it was all about them. The children’s father died in a 31-vehicle pileup in February.
“He looked at them and said, ‘Whatever you want, you can have,’” she said.
Skip Ockomon graduated from Madison Heights High School in 1985. He then attended fire school and had emergency management training, before joining the Anderson Fire Department in 1987.
The 22-year veteran firefighter said stress and an inability to deal with emotions soon led him to drink. As a member of a well-known Anderson family, Skip Ockomon said he felt like an outsider.
“When I took a drink, I felt like everyone else – like I fit in,” he said.
Skip Ockomon married his wife in 1992. Soon, his daily drinking habits caused friction in the marriage.
“I tried to fix it myself, but it didn’t work,” said Diane Ockomon, 54.
Eventually, Skip Ockomon asked for a divorce.
“I was an idiot back then, thinking I wanted to be with someone else,” Skip Ockomon said, gazing at his wife of 17 years.
After a heart attack in 1999, Skip Ockomon says he realized he wasn’t Superman and joined a 12-step program. On Feb. 7, Skip Ockomon will celebrate 11 years of sobriety.
Skip Ockomon is now a regular at community events, such as the Reality Check, where Andersonians experienced life as a homeless person for one night. He also helped coordinate the County-Wide Gospel Concert about a month ago.
Although the brother of the city’s Mayor Kris Ockomon, Skip Ockomon said he doesn’t receive special treatment. In fact, he keeps his brother, wife and some friends close to burst his bubble.
“I feel good about it (community recognition) but I don’t want my ego to get too big,” he said. “So I have people around to deflate me.”
Contact Christina M. Wright, 640-4883, christina.wright@heraldbulletin.com.
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