His parents were Eastern European Jewish immigrants who came to the United States before World War I.

Drafted in 1943, he served in the U.S. Army Air Corps during World War II as a cartographer in Europe.

In 1976, he received the State Department Traveling Grant, a Certificate of Honor at the Tyler School of Art and the Benjamin Altman Prize from the National Academy of Design.

[4] Shikler continued to paint in his studio at home until he died of kidney failure on November 12, 2015, surrounded by his family.

He was survived by his two children, Cathy and Clifford, and 4 grandchildren: Isabella, Lane, Montgomery and Bejamin.