Laura Skipper-Kallal

Laura Marie Skipper-Kallal of Falls Church, VA formerly of Oakland, MD passed away on Sunday, January 5, 2025, at MedStar Georgetown University Hospital in Washington, DC after a brief illness.

Born on October 15, 1987, in Cumberland, MD, she was the daughter of John and Kathy Skipper of Oakland. Laura graduated from Southern High School in 2005, and Frostburg State University in 2009. She continued her studies to earn a Ph.D. in cognitive neuroscience at Temple University, in Philadelphia, PA in 2014, obtaining a graduate student fellowship from the National Science Foundation. Dr. Kallal earned many prestigious accolades in the years that followed, including a Postdoctoral Fellowship at Georgetown University, where she helped people who have lost their language due to a stroke to recover their ability to speak, and an AAS Fellowship at the National Science Foundation. She was most recently employed by Strategic Analysis Inc. as a science advisor to the Department of Defense specializing in reviewing and recommending funding for promising research projects with respect to medical advances.

In 2014, she married the love of her life, Dr. Robert Kallal, and together they had two children, Ruth Louise Kallal and David Henry Kallal. Laura and Robert met at Frostburg State University in Frostburg, MD, in 2005 and settled in Northern Virginia after several years in a long-distance relationship. Her children, born in 2018 and 2021, were the lights of her life and she was the best mom any child could want. Laura was a caring, compassionate wife and mother who selflessly supported her family at all times, much like her own mother. She could also talk to anyone and was a gifted storyteller, much like her own father. Her hobbies included knitting, sewing, gardening, reading, cooking, and listening to podcasts and audio drama.

She is survived by her parents, her husband and children, and a sister and best friend, Rachel Skipper-Carter and husband Marcus. She is also survived by her in-laws, Robin and Donald Micheletti and Mark and Mandy Kallal, her sister-in-law, Jennifer Cecil and husband Billy and their children Ellie and Ethan, and many aunts, uncles and cousins as well as numerous close friends and colleagues.

She was preceded in death by her grandparents, Loyd and Darlene Moon and John and Maxine Skipper.

She attended and was active in Loch Lynn Church of God growing up and more recently attended Annandale United Methodist Church in Annandale, VA where she was a volunteer who taught Sunday school and children's church.

In her usual caring way, Laura was an organ donor and her organs were able to save at least one other life.

Laura was a brilliant individual and a bright light to this world, who will be sadly missed. Celebrations of Life are being planned in both Oakland, MD and Falls Church, VA, of which details will be shared when plans are complete.

In lieu of flowers, for those who would like to do something in Laura's memory, a contribution may be made to the children's college fund by sending a check payable to Robert Kallal c/o C & S Fredlock Funeral Home, 21 N 2nd St., Oakland, MD, and noting "college fund" in the memo of the check.