Sky Johnson had taken his last cast well before a relentless cancer robbed us of his physical presence and his habitually upbeat persona. There was an obituary, a wake, a burial, and an engraved headstone.
But Sky is not gone.
This retired air traffic controller and passionate fly fisherman found no better therapy for dealing with his own cancer than to spend a few hours on the water at Rockwell Springs Trout Club. He also enjoyed assisting other cancer victims as they sought sanctuary from the pain and the trepidation the disease dispenses, but he is no longer reading the water and trying to decide between casting an olive woolly bugger or an elk hair caddis.
But Sky lives on.
His granddaughter Kalyn has honored her hero, her role model, and her grandpa with a legacy project that seamlessly melds his love of fly fishing with his charm and his lifelong march as an emissary of goodwill. Theirs is a story not about cancer and the larceny it perpetrates on the lives of exceptional people, but instead, it is one of the font of life that can come after that final breath. When an individual has left an indelible mark on those who knew him best, and his descendants so treasure the blessing that was theirs, a compulsion to share this treasure creates something remarkable.
“I just always admired him so much,” the 17-year-old junior at Gibsonburg High School said about her grandfather, who although he was baptized Schuyler and his friends called him Sky, to his granddaughter he was simply Fuzzy.
“He was always so cheerful and he made things fun. I was always learning things from Fuzzy, and it impressed me so much the way he cared about other people. I wanted to carry his spirit on.”
So Kalyn took this fishing fly design that her grandfather had created, one that he would burn into the lids of the fly boxes he built, and she turned it into the logo for something she calls “The Schuyler Project”.
“For us, that fly became the symbol of his fight against cancer,” she said. Kalyn set up a website and through the use of social media and word of mouth, started selling hoodies, T-shirts, hats, and other items adorned with that fly drawing.
To date, this teenager with compassion, entrepreneurial chops, and a polish that belies her age, has raised about $8,000 through theschuylerproject.com and these proceeds have benefited cancer research and Reel Recovery, a national program that sponsors no-charge fly fishing retreats for men battling cancer.
Sky, who had a long career with the Federal Aviation Administration in Cleveland as a controller, supervisor, and instructor, received his cancer diagnosis in 2015. The following year he was invited to attend a Reel Recovery event at the historic Rockwell Springs Trout Club near Castalia. There, three miles of a pristine trout stream spaghetti-strands its way across 125 acres of well-manicured paradise, with rainbow, brook, brown, and tiger trout the only full-time residents.
On that initial visit to Rockwell, Sky was impressed with the expert fly fishing instruction and moved by the camaraderie that flowed out of the courageous conversations that gave the participants present at the Reel Recovery retreat a unique opportunity to share their personal story, tackle a new skill, form lasting friendships, and kindle hope as they faced the challenges of cancer.
Sky left the spring-fed trout haven hooked on fly fishing, sold on Reel Recovery's therapeutic gifts, and seduced by Rockwell. He soon became a member and made regular visits to its hallowed grounds.
“Getting out on the stream really helps,” Sky said in 2020, as he faced off with a new bout of cancer. “That’s one of the benefits of fly fishing – you have to concentrate all of the time because you’re not just sitting there staring at a bobber. It really gets your mind off of other things.”
His association with Reel Recovery as one of its patient-participants led to an increased role as one of the volunteer fishing “buddies” who attend the annual sessions to help out the cancer victims. “I think that since Fuzzy was obviously going through it himself, he knew what other people felt like dealing with cancer and the treatments and side effects,” his granddaughter said. “He just wanted to help them in their battle.”
Marcel Mylen, who along with his wife MJ are the Ohio coordinators for the Reel Recovery retreats, said Sky Johnson was one of many cancer patients who found the program offered an unexpected respite from the physical and psychological impact of the disease.
“Sky first came as a participant and he liked it so much he ended up staying involved so he could help out others. He was just one hell of a guy,” Mr. Mylen said. “Initially, there can be a lot of apprehension at these retreats because of what these guys are dealing with, but by the final day the attitude of everyone is just incredible.”
Mr. Mylen said that when Kalyn spoke to the Reel Recovery group to let them know that she had created “The Schuyler Project” to honor the fly fisherman she knew as Fuzzy, and that she had raised around $8,000 for Reel Recovery and cancer research, the reaction was shock.
“She made a presentation at the dinner and talked about how much she loved and admired her grandfather -- it was a real tear-jerker,” he said. “And to think that she created these products and started this website and all when she was 16 years old – when they announced the amount she had raised, you could have picked me up off of the floor.”
Kalyn, a high-achiever who is taking all of her classes at Bowling Green State University, said that even as his health was on a significant downhill slide, her grandfather was a constant presence at her cross country meets and her horse shows.
“I knew what he was going through, but he was always there, he always showed up,” she said about Sky, who passed away in April. “Even if it was a two-hour drive, he was there. It meant a lot. Then when he was no longer able to come because of his illness, something was missing. But now, although he's not present, I feel like he's still there. I carry his spirit and I think of Fuzzy every time I ride.”
First Published December 25, 2021, 6:00 p.m.
