Norman "Ski" Baranowski

Norman, known to friends and family as “Ski”, was born in Chicago, Illinois on June 8, 1942 to Ben and Julia (Rucinski) Baranowski. He attended VoTech High School in Chicago and joined the Air Force after graduating high school in June, 1960. On March 22, 1967, he married Sally Ann Fischer. He served in Korea in 1965 and in Vietnam from 1968-1969. Ski and Sally were stationed at RAF Wethersfield, England from December 1969-May, 1974. They were transferred to Nellis AFB, NV in May, 1974 and retired on June 30, 1980 after serving 20 years. Ski then worked for the US Postal Service as a letter carrier from 1981-1989. He worked at the Department of Defense at Nellis AFB from September 1989 to December 31, 2015 where he retired for the final time.

Ski was preceded in death by his father, Ben and his mother, Julia; former wife, Elizabeth Kettles Baranowski; and brother-in-law Harvey Gorden. He is survived by his wife Sally; daughter Debbie (Bill) Scholz; sister Suzanne Gorden; nieces Sharon (Andy) Harvey and their sons Cole and Zachary, and Ginger (Dave) Reidy, along with many cousins living throughout the United States from Florida to California.

Ski loved cars from the time he could drive and ended with his pride and joy, a 2020 bright orange Corvette. He and Sally attended a number of Nascar races in Las Vegas, Charlotte, Dover and Phoenix, AZ. Cruising became a way of life starting with a 1984 cruise on the Princess Love Boat and ending with a 2019 cruise to Europe on the Sky Princess with his close friends, “The Coffee Crew”.

A military service will be held at the Veterans Cemetery in Boulder City, NV, on October 4 at 10 a.m. Special thanks to the staff on the Falconer wing at the VA Home for taking care of Ski for the last 6 months. Ski will be greatly missed by family and friends.

In lieu of flowers, please make a donation to our veterans at the Nevada State Veterans Home.