RePlay just learned that passed away on April 13, 2016, after a long illness and a long absence from the arcade game manufacturing scene. He was 77. Skip’s Doyle & Associates, headquartered in Sarasota, Fla., built basketball cages, baseball games and other items like attractions for youngsters back in the early ’90s when redemption games began their rise in trade favor. He was also a pioneer in recognizing the growing family entertainment center faction back before these places were called FECs.
According to an obituary in the Herald Tribune, Skip was born in Portland, Maine, but lived in Sarasota for 40 years. Before he joined the coin-op business, he’d served in the U.S. Air Force during the Korean war. According to the paper, he is survived by daughters Pam, Paula and Julie, and sons Jay and Joseph, as well as by numerous grandchildren and four great grandchildren. He is also survived by his former wife Sondra Doyle who’d worked with the Sarasota company for many years and afterward for Oriental Trading’s Fun Express and then the Sureshot Redemption prize emporium.