NSSA - National Skeet Shooting Association

The National Skeet Shooting Association is the world's largest organization dedicated to the sport of Skeet Shooting.

Prolific Shooter Tom Lause Passes Away

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Tom LauseNSSA regrets to report that John Thomas (Tom) Lause, 74, passed away on November 9, 2016, after a short battle with lung cancer.

Tom started shooting skeet in 1978 and registered over 250,000 targets. He had many skeet victories but was most proud of shooting 100 as a Veteran in the .410 event at the 2015 World Skeet Championships. He earned a place on the NSSA and Florida All-American Teams for many years. He was a highly respected member of the skeet community — both on the field and in his years of service to skeet. He proudly represented Florida as an NSSA Director and the Florida Southern vice president. For many years he helped with the administration of multiple shoots and was an avid supporter of the Florida Youth Camp and new shooters.

Tom was a Navy veteran and worked as a paving contractor.

He is survived by his wife of 49 years, Carolyn, and many friends. Contributions in Tom’s memory can be made to Hope Hospice, 9470 HealthPark Circle, Fort Myers, FL 33908, 239-482-4673.

Long-time Member Howard Confer Passes

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Howard and Letitia ConferNSSA regrets to report the death of Howard Confer, one of the association’s longest-serving active members and the person most responsible for the high-quality targets thrown at the World Skeet Championships. He died peacefully at home on October 23, 2016, at the age of 97.

Howard was an ambassador for the game of skeet in his home state of Michigan and the nation. He was inducted into the NSSA Hall of Fame in 1975 as the Ray Boller Award recipient and as a shooter in 1979. He is also in the Michigan Skeet Hall of Fame. Howard attended the World Skeet Championships 54 times, shooting in 52 consecutive World Shoots and winning a world championship in 1954. He served as NSSA president 1976-1978.

Howard Confer’s estate encourages his friends to donate to NSSA’s general fund,
youth shooting initiatives, or NSSA Museum in his memory.

Click here to donate.

As a long-time member of the Detroit Gun Club, Howard was a member of the famed Michigan Wreckers 5-man team that dominated team events in the 1960s and holds a number of team world records. Until the past few months, he was still active in the game and was still coaching at the Detroit Gun Club, as well as remaining busy designing clay target traps and installing sporting clays courses across the U.S.

Although he served his club and NSSA tirelessly in many ways, his greatest contribution was his quest for perfection in the targets thrown at the World Skeet Championships and other events. Howard wanted every target thrown to be perfect, and it especially mattered to him that the World Shoot throw targets worthy of the status of the event. That meant no broken targets from the machine and every target flying the same. To reduce the number of broken targets, he started by having referees count them, then analyzed the reason for the breakage: was it the manufacturing process, the way they were shipped and handled, the way they were loaded into the machine, a problem with the machine, or something else?

“At first he would ride on the back of the truck, watch us unload the boxes, and make sure we were handling targets correctly,” said Barney Brown, a trap expert at the National Shooting Complex and protégé of Howard’s. “He developed an 18-point checklist for every machine. If there were too many broken targets, his common phrase was ‘pull it,’ meaning we had to pull the machine and determine what the problem was.

“Howard was absolutely committed to ensuring quality in each and every target, in each and every machine and event. He certainly helped me become better at serving the industry. He revolutionized quality control and checks and balances in targets. I’m a better man for even meeting him. At first he was a mentor, making sure I was learning and doing what I should, but he evolved into an honest friend and someone I looked up to,” Brown said.

“Howard was a fixture in NSSA for over 55 years,” said Louise Terry, an NSSA past president who served with Howard in many capacities over decades. “His life was dedicated to our sport and he gave willingly of his time to the association. Howard was the primary person who dedicated years of focus to target quality, especially at the World Shoot. Anyone who has attended the World Shoot can attribute the high-quality targets to his work. Nobody loved skeet more than Howard, and this is a great loss to our association.”

Howard is survived by his wife of 71 years, Letitia; children Daniel (Debbie) and Sheri (Steve) Confer; grandchildren Carrie and Cole (Maria) Confer and Hunter and Sara Dzierbicki; and great grandson, Xavier Confer.

Funeral Service will be at Lynch & Sons Funeral Home in Clawson, Michigan, on Monday, October 31 at 11 a.m. Obituary and condolences are at lynchfuneraldirectors.com. A memorial service will be held at Detroit Gun Club on December 23 at 1 p.m.

Howard Confer’s estate wishes to encourage people to give to the NSSA in memory of Howard. At their request, we have set up a donation form for that purpose. Those who wish to remember Howard and his love of skeet shooting can click here to make a tax deductible donation online.

If you prefer to mail a donation, you may send a check to NSSA with the following on the memo line, or provide a separate letter accompanying the check:

In memory of Howard Confer to support (a) the NSSA Skeet Program, (b) NSSA Youth Skeet Shooting or (c) NSSA HOF/Museum.

For your tax records, the Federal Tax ID number of NSSA is 75-0108632.

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Past President Bill Batty Passes Away

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Bill BattyNSSA staff and members are saddened by the unexpected death of past president William N. “Bill” Batty, Jr. on October 25.

Bill was a long-time member of Minute Man Sportsman’s Club in Massachusetts where he held numerous leadership positions. He was also active in NSSA governance over a 25-year period, culminating in his election as NSSA president in 2008. In 2013, he was inducted into the NSSA Hall of Fame as the Ray Boller Award recipient for service to the association.

He proudly served in the U.S. Marines, was a graduate of the University of Miami and Suffolk Law School, and practiced law for over 35 years in Boston and Billerica. While in law school, his charismatic personality enabled him to be a successful bartender at the Bull and Finch Pub, made famous by the TV show Cheers, and to meet his beloved wife, Jan. In addition to his support of skeet and trap, Bill was an avid participant in cowboy action shooting as a member of Harvard Ghost Riders.

Bill is survived by his wife Janice Batty and brother Boyden Batty. Services were held on Saturday, October 29 at Sweeney’s Funeral Home, followed by a celebration of life at Minute Man Sportsman’s Club.

Memorial contributions may be made to the Durand-Farley Fund, c/o Massachusetts Skeet Shooting Association, 19 Sagamore St., Braintree, MA 02184.

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Longtime NSSA Member Harry Frey Passes

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Harry FreyNSSA member and friend Julius Harry Frey passed away on August 22 at the age of 93.

Harry was known as a vibrant, energetic, and enthusiastic person. Skeet was his favorite pastime, and he was a 31-year member who shot at 26 World Skeet Championships, including the 2015 shoot. He was named to the All-American teams as Senior Veteran or Super Veteran every year since 2005. In 2014, he won the Armed Forces HOA Super Veteran Class at 91 and was sponsored by Blaser. Harry had 128,554 lifetime targets; in 2013 at 90 years old, he shot 4750 targets, and in 2014, he shot 3729.

He was a Master Mason raised in Bluebonnet Lodge and was a member of Charles Anderson Lodge until his passing. Harry was a member of the Alzafar Shrine Temple, past president of the golf unit, past president and founder of the shotgun unit, and committee member for the Pulling For Kids tournament benefiting Shriners Hospitals. In addition to skeet and his Masonic work, he had many interests such as hunting, motorcycles, and golf.

Harry was born on March 6, 1923 in Laredo, Texas to Julius Harry and Lucille Frey, who preceded him in death. His wife of 47 years, Jerry Ann Woodard Frey, also preceded him in death. Survivors include his sister-in-law Kay Burton and niece Pam Burton of Colorado Springs, Colorado, and nephew Steve Burton and wife Michelle of Amarillo, Texas.

Harry graduated from Breckenridge High School in 1946 after having served six years in the Navy during World War II. He attended Sul Ross University for a short time and later transferred to Trinity University, where he earned a B.S. degree in Social Service in 1949. He went back to Sul Ross University during two summers to earn his teaching certificate. He chose Sul Ross because he could take his horse, as he had an avid interest in roping at that time. Continuing his education, Harry attended Southwest Oklahoma State College where he earned a Master’s of Education degree in 1971. He also received an Industrial Education Certification in 1973 from Texas A&M University. Throughout his post-war years, Harry served as a school administrator in the Eagle Pass ISD and as a vocational instructor, including teaching classes in drafting and industrial arts, principally at MacArthur High School in San Antonio, where he eventually retired.

Harry joined the Navy at 17 years old in 1940 and served on the USS Lexington CV-2. The ship was one of the first to arrive at Pearl Harbor after the attack. From Pearl Harbor he went to the Battle of the Coral Sea where the Lexington went down. Harry also served on the USS Bennington and the USS Card. He was honorably discharged in 1951. His military honors included the American Defense Medal (1 star), Asiatic Pacific Medal (2 stars), American Theater Medal, European African Medal, Victory Medal, and President Unit Citation Award (1 Blue Star).

The Navy will honor him by spreading his ashes (and his wife Jerry’s ashes) over the sunken USS Lexington in the Coral Sea and will give him a 21-gun salute.

There will be a celebration of Harry’ life on September 28, 2016 at the Shrine Auditorium on 1604 and Blanco at 6:30 p.m. with a reception following. In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to Shriners Children’s Hospital Alzafar Transportation Fund, 901 N. Loop 1604 W., San Antonio, TX 78258. Additional memorials can be made to the High Plains Food Bank, PO Box 31803, Amarillo, TX 79120.

Skeet Shooter Lee Staska Passes

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Lee StaskaLouise Terry reports the sad news that Lee Staska, 72, long-time skeet shooter from Atlanta, GA, died on July 7, 2016 from brain cancer.

“Lee was a member of our five-man skeet team from Wolf Creek/Tom Lowe Shooting Grounds during the years when I lived in Georgia from 1986 to 1993,” said Terry. “He had a great sense of humor, always wore a smile, and loved life. Lee was passionate about his shooting and shot skeet, some sporting clays, and hunted birds right up until the time of his illness.

“He was a great friend who will be missed by all of his shooting and hunting buddies.”

Anyone wishing to make a memorial contribution in Lee’s memory can do so by sending a donation to the American Brain Tumor Association,  8550 W. Bryn Mawr Ave., Suite 550, Chicago, IL  60631, www.abta.org.

NSSA and Lee’s skeet friends extend our sincerest condolences to Kim, his wife of 28 years, and to his family.

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