Mike (Wolfgang) Schkoll was born to Jakob and Mimi Schkoll on June 5, 1936 in Velbert, Germany. He attended public schools in Germany, but eventually his parents made an effort to start a new life for Mike by trying to get visas for another country. They tried to immigrate to England, the United States, and Mexico but were unsuccessful in these attempts. Ultimately, Mike’s father was sent to Auschwitz. He survived two years there and was one of only 7,000 survivors in that camp.
Mike’s parents’ wishes were finally met when he came to the United States in 1955, at the age of 18. Mike served in both the National Guard and the Army and eventually married. From 1982 to 1985, Mike had the opportunity to live abroad in Israel. He returned to the U.S. to become a dispensing optician in San Francisco. A man of many trades, he eventually became a tour guide in San Francisco, and then moved to El Paso for retirement. Mike had three daughters and three grandchildren. Mike died on February 2, 2011.