It was around Thanksgiving in 2022, and Cub Foods in Stillwater was packed.

Cashier Brandon Skelton started to scan grocery items for a customer, noticed she qualified for a 10 percent discount on her first item and then asked about her experience with Cub.

In a letter to Cub’s corporate management, the customer wrote: “The woman behind me shared that she waits in line, no matter how long, for Brandon whenever he is working, because he is so friendly and engaging. The lady two carts back had the same story — she would wait, even if another line had no one, just to have Brandon check out her order.”Skelton shared “how much he loves his job at Cub and what he gets to do for customers every day,” the customer continued. “It really made my day. I just could not stop smiling when I left. I will be joining the line of shoppers waiting in his line next time I see him since I know what an amazing experience I will have! Signed, New President of the Brandon Fan Club.”

Skelton, of Oak Park Heights, died June 15 at Regions Hospital in St. Paul following a cardiac event related to a short illness. He was 41.

Signs alerting customers to Skelton’s death have been posted throughout the store. “Brandon was more than just a colleague,” the signs read. “He was a kind soul who brought light, laughter and warmth to our workplace. His sudden departure leaves a void that will be deeply felt by all who knew him.”

‘Mayor of Cub’

Skelton, who suffered a traumatic brain injury during a car accident when he was 18, had worked for Cub Foods since September 2007.

During his 17½ years at Cub, Skelton received numerous notes of recognition from customers and “Heart of Cub” awards, meaning that customers contacted the corporate office to compliment his work, said Lisa Schmeckpeper, the store’s customer-service manager and Skelton’s direct manager.

“When they did surveys, people always mentioned Brandon,” Schmeckpeper said. “We’d have a long line of people waiting for him to check them out. He just knew everybody and loved everybody.”

Longtime customers Megan and Tim Palm own the Daily Grind Espresso Cafe in downtown Stillwater. Tim Palm has shopped at the store almost daily for 20 years for cafe supplies, and he said Skelton memorized Palm’s phone number for Palm’s Cub Rewards account.

“Brandon was the host of Stillwater Cub,” Palm said. “He welcomed you with a fist pump every time. He was as local as it gets in this small town. We will miss his goofy smart-ass personality.”

Skelton was known for randomly yelling out “I love selling food!” during his shifts, Schmeckpeper said. “He loved working here.”

“The guy was rad,” said Stillwater Mayor Ted Kozlowski. “He always had just such a huge smile, you know? He remembered everybody. We always aimed for his checkout lane, especially when my kids were little. We were always bummed if we didn’t see him, and we were super-excited if we did.”

Skelton, the self-proclaimed “Mayor of Cub,” liked to tease the real mayor, Kozlowski said. “He’d say, ‘You know, I’m the mayor here,’” he said. “I’m like, ‘All right. Absolutely.’ I called him ‘Your honor.’”

Cory Buettner, the owner of Leo’s Grill & Malt Shop in downtown Stillwater, was one of those Cub shoppers who always looked for Skelton’s checkout line.

“He’d say, ‘Hi Leo,’ and then he’d go, ‘Oh no, I always call you that,’” Buettner said. “He was always super-friendly, just the best. For all the cards that life dealt him, he was the one cheering other people up. That was cool.”

Near-fatal crash

Skelton grew up in Maplewood and graduated from Tartan High School in Oakdale in June 2002. Four months before he graduated, on Feb. 13, 2002, Skelton was almost killed when a friend tried to pass a vehicle on McKnight Road.

“Brandon was a passenger in the front seat,” said Joy Skelton, Skelton’s mother. As his friend maneuvered to pass, the other driver began to turn left and they crashed.

“He was in a coma at Regions Hospital for a month,” his mother said. “We didn’t know if he was going to make it. He had to have a tracheotomy. He had to have a feeding tube. He had to have everything.”

Coming out of a coma “is not like you see on TV,” Joy Skelton said. “You don’t just wake up. On TV, they wake up and they talk, and, like, everything’s fine. That’s not how it is. He could do nothing. He said he was ‘reborn’ because he had to learn how to breathe again, he had to learn how to eat again, he had to learn how to walk again, how to talk again. Everything.”

Skelton underwent seven months of rehabilitation at Bethesda Rehabilitation Hospital in St. Paul and at the Courage Center in Golden Valley.

Skelton was able to leave Bethesda for his high-school graduation in June 2002. One of his best friends, Dave Yasis, had helped him learn how to walk again in time for the ceremony, Joy Skelton said. “Dave wheeled him up and helped him go up the steps and helped him walk across the stage. He got a standing ovation. It was the coolest thing.”

Skelton worked at the Target and Walmart stores in Woodbury before landing the cashier job at Cub Foods in Stillwater, Joy Skelton said.

From shy to extrovert

“He loved it there, and he did a great job,” she said. “He bought his own townhouse out there, just a mile away from Cub, and he did really well. He drove, and he had his own house, and he had his job — that’s all because of how hard he fought back. He wanted to have a normal life.”

Skelton’s extroverted personality didn’t emerge until after his brain injury, Joy Skelton said. “When he was little, funnily enough, he was actually rather shy and quiet. Afterwards, he would talk to anyone. Literally. He would talk to anyone.”

When he wasn’t working, Skelton enjoyed going on long walks, going to the gym and hanging out with his girlfriend, Kim Sween, she said.

One of the letters in Skelton’s file at Cub Foods arrived in July 2010. “It’s very rare that customer service people go out of their way to go above and beyond for clients nowadays,” a customer wrote. “That is why I just had to write to tell you that Brandon was exceptionally helpful and even saved me money last night at the checkout! It seems to me that he had the whole ad section memorized!! … You can bet I’ll look for Brandon at the checkout every time I come into the store.”

Said Joy Skelton: “His life wasn’t easy. It was a struggle every day. He had to work to get his body to do what he wanted it to do. … But he always, always, always had a smile on his face. He always wanted to make you laugh. He made people feel like they mattered.”

Skelton was preceded in death by his father, Raymond. In addition to his mother and girlfriend, Skelton is survived by his grandmother, Carol Bushinski, and his siblings, Shannon Skelton, Shelly Clate, Aaron Skelton and Cassandra Skelton.

A celebration of Skelton’s life will be held from noon to 4 p.m. Sunday at the Lake Elmo Event Center; a giant promotional Cub Foods grocery cart, normally used in parades and local events, will be stationed outside.