Father Daniel J. Skvir, 79, of Pennington died peacefully at home surrounded by his loving family. Born in Martins Ferry, OH, he grew up in Jersey City, NJ, until he matriculated at Princeton University, Class of 1966. Throughout his life, he remained a true Tigers fan, enjoying decades of football and basketball season tickets. After Princeton, he attended both Union Theological Seminary and St. Vladimir’s Seminary before returning to Princeton. He was a teacher and administrator at Princeton Day School for 41 years. Known as Fr. Dan and the spiritual father of the school, he wore a variety of hats over years (Director of Admissions; teacher of Russian, History and Religion; College Counseling and much more). With his wife, Tassie, he took students to the Soviet Union for years, introducing numerous students (and adults) to Russian culture firsthand. In 1989 Princeton Day School was selected to be one of the first schools to participate in a U.S.-USSR Exchange of high school students. In his heart, he was always a PDS Panther, supporting his students and his own daughters in the classroom, sports fields and life’s endeavors. While a full-time educator, he was always deeply involved in the Orthodox Church of America. In 1989 he was ordained to the priesthood after many years as a deacon and choir director. Shortly thereafter, he began his service as priest chaplain at Princeton University for 35 years, leading its Orthodox Chapel of the Transfiguration.
Son of the late Rev. John and Barbara Skvir of Ss. Peter and Paul’s of Jersey City, NJ, he was married in 1967 to Tamara Turkevich, daughter of Very Rev. Dr. John Turkevich and Prof. Ludmilla Turkevich. They taught together at PDS for 40 plus years and formed a true partnership in many ways. He is the father to Nika Skvir-Maliakal (Sanjiv) of Stamford, CT, and Kyra Frankel (Joshua) of Brooklyn; brother to Natalea Skvir of Edmonds, WA, and John Skvir of Westwood, MA; devoted grandfather to Sadie and Wylie Frankel of Brooklyn, NY, and Katherine and Madeline Maliakal of Stamford, Connecticut.
A music enthusiast, Father Daniel enjoyed choir directing and was an avid arranger of music for choral singing. He was the Recipient of St. Romanos Award for his work as director, arranger, and collector of liturgical music. He was a translator, along with his wife, of Rachmaninoff’s unfinished and only opera that was orchestrated by Igor Buketoff (Monna Vanna).
Father Daniel was responsible for the world premiere of Maximilion Steinberg’s Passion Week, which had never been performed, 90 years after it had been written. Father Daniel will always be remembered as a March Madness aficionado who loved to follow the NCAA basketball brackets. He was a lifelong Mets fan and the biggest fan of his daughters’ various sports teams, never missing a game! Most of all, he was known for his calm, wise presence that impacted the lives of hundreds of students, parishioners, friends, and family.
The Visitation will be held on Thursday, March 27, 2025 from 5 until 7 p.m. at St. Vladimir Orthodox Church, 812 Grand Street, Trenton. The Funeral Service will begin at 7 p.m.
The Panahida Service will be celebrated 9:30 a.m. on Friday, March 28, 2025 at St. Vladimir Orthodox Church 812 Grand Street, Trenton.
Burial will follow in the St. Vladimir Russian Orthodox Cemetery 316 Cassville Road, Jackson, NJ.
For memorial contributions, please refer to the Mather-Hodge Funeral Home website.
