FALMOUTH/KENNEBUNKPORT – Cathy Skeirik Roberts, the half-Lebanese, half-Irish, whirlwind of energy passed away on Friday, Jan. 22, 2021, due to complications from a multi-year courageous battle with ovarian cancer.

Cathy lived a rich life, filled with engaging professional opportunities and many caring close family members and friends. Cathy was always active – an avid skier, runner, biker, hiker, wind surfer and paddle boarder. She had a lifelong love of literature and always cherished a well-crafted novel. One of Cathy’s most beloved pastimes was spending time with her family at Goose Rocks Beach.

She was born on Sept. 15, 1956 to Dr. Lewis Skeirik and Patricia Drummey Skeirik at the hospital at Fort Jackson, Columbia, S.C., where her father was stationed with the U.S. Army. In 1958, the Skeirik family settled in Georgetown, Mass., where her father opened his dental practice. Cathy was raised along with her siblings in a wonderful colonial house dating back to 1754. She attended the local schools in Georgetown and enjoyed playing field hockey, basketball and softball.

She graduated from the University of Rhode Island in 1978 earning a B.S. in Dental Hygiene while also obtaining a Secondary School Teacher Certification in English. For the next two years, she was an English teacher in her hometown at Georgetown High School. She then discovered her true calling and enrolled in the New England School of Law in Boston, graduating in 1985.

She was accepted in the U.S. Navy Judge Advocate General’s Corps and met her future husband, Brian Neale Roberts, who was also a JAG, on the first day of training in Newport, R.I. Cathy was very proud of being in the U.S. Navy and served at Naval Station Treasure Island, Calif., first as a trial counsel (prosecutor) and then as the staff judge advocate (legal counsel) for the commanding officer of the base. She tried many cases and knew she wanted to pursue a career as a trial attorney.

Upon her discharge in June 1989, she and Brian moved to Portland and were married on July 15, 1989 in Kennebunkport. Cathy was hired as an associate and then became a partner at the Portland firm of Thompson and Bowie and would spend the next 27 years at the firm.

She relished the challenges of practicing law and especially loved mentoring new attorneys and staff members. She was respected by her peers as an excellent trial attorney and by her clients as a passionate advocate. Her practice included the areas of insurance defense, worker’s compensation and her true calling, admiralty law.

In June 2016, she was hired by the Maine Attorney General’s Office to work in the litigation division. A few months later, she was diagnosed with advanced ovarian cancer. As a new employee, she was very grateful to the then Attorney General and now Governor of the State of Maine, Janet Mills and to Litigation Division Chief Susan Herman for their steadfast support. Many thanks to the staff of the Attorney General’s Office who donated their hard-earned vacation days to Cathy during the recovery from her first operation. She returned to work and thoroughly enjoyed the work and her colleagues before finally entering retirement in 2019.

Cathy was predeceased by her beloved father, Dr. Lewis Skeirik.

She is survived by her husband, Brian Neale Roberts of Falmouth; her mother, Patricia Drummey Skeirik of Georgetown, Mass. and Goose Rocks Beach; her sister, Marcia Braganca and husband, Joseph, of East Providence, R.I., her brother, Peter Skeirik DMD and his wife Pamela, of Georgetown, Mass., and her sister, Lynne Skeirik and her husband James Patnode of Arlington, Va. Cathy was exceptionally close to her nieces, Beth and Sara and her nephews, Daniel and Calvin and their children.

A celebration of Cathy’s life will be held this coming September.

Cathy had a zest for life. She especially enjoyed being on a nice beach with family and friends and having a beer. To those many individuals who are family and friends of Cathy, the next time you are on a beautiful beach in warm weather and you have a beverage in your hand, raise a toast to Cathy. She would like that.

To share a memory or leave a message of condolence, please visit Cathy’s Book of Memories Page at http://www.bibberfuneral.com.

Arrangements are in care of Bibber Memorial Chapel, 67 Summer St., Kennebunk, ME 04043. 

In lieu of flowers Cathy has asked that any memorial contributions may be made to the Maine

Coast Heritage Trust,

1 Bowdoin Mill Island #201,

Topsham, ME 04086.