Skelton obituaries, Tangipahoa Parish, Louisiana 

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Name, date of obit, date submitted, submitted for the USGenWeb archives by:

Skelton, Billy Frank    11 Dec 1999    Dec, 1999    Don Johnson

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Obituary published in The Advocate (Baton Rouge) on: 12/11/1999
SKELTON, BILLY FRANK

"We have just lost a true gentleman. Not a grand gent who knew all of the social 
graces, but a simply, purely gentle man." He was born just after the Depression 
in the rolling hills of Birmingham, Ala., the 12th child of 14. He was the first 
child in his family born in a hospital, the son of Oscar Skelton and Minnie 
Carpenter Skelton, modest hard-working farmers. Brothers Clarence, Luther and Jack, 
and sisters Agnes Perry and Adele Holcomb, preceded him in death. Brothers Ernest, 
Emory and Donald, and sisters Louise Foster, Harriett Harris, Pauline DeArman, 
Margie Speights and Anne King survive him. At 17, he left home to become a naval 
gunner and UDT specialist on the USS Mispillion AO 105 during the Korean War. At 
first port, he and his mates donned bluebird chest tattoos. Once his tour was over, 
he became a resident of New Orleans, working several years as a butcher. Carting 
sides of beef, the former skinny country kid developed the once well-known bulging 
muscular build of a laborer. His physique was often tested with hours of arm 
wrestling competitions amongst friends. It was during this time in the mid-1950s 
that he met his wife, Mary Knipe, originally of Pittsburgh. He later became 
employed with Boyce Machinery, a Caterpillar corporation, where he worked for more 
than 34 years. A testament to this wonderful person, he rose from warehouseman to 
management with only a ninth-grade formal education. He never forgot a face and met 
each with a smile. He was a natural people person and leader. Everyone loved him 
dearly. He had a way of speaking softly, teaching with compassion and direction, 
convincing others they could move mountains. With each project, his hands were 
usually the first dirty. He and his wife, Mary, adopted two girls, Lisa Skelton 
Byars in 1963 and Sharon Skelton in 1969. Never has a man fathered his children 
with such unconditional love. His daughter Lisa said, "Of a million choices to 
pick a father, I would always choose Bill. The only time I've ever seen him cry 
was during the loss of Sharon in 1996." His passions since retirement in 
Springfield included boating and RV traveling through-out the United States and 
Canada. Married more than 40 years to Mary, raising his two girls and being Pops 
to Lisa's two children, Alan Jobe and Whitney Mahl, were but a few of his joys. 
How fortunate he was that he had just returned home from his most wonderful 
vacation ever, two months in Eastern Canada. His friends and family were greatly 
blessed by his presence and influence on their lives. He passed as he lived, in 
great peace. He was born Oct. 30, 1932, and died Dec. 8, 1999. Family and friends 
are invited to a celebration of his life at Harry McKneely & Son Funeral Home, 
Hammond, on Sunday. Visitation at the funeral home, from 10 a.m. Sunday until 
funeral services at 1 p.m. Interment in Parklawn Memorial Gardens.

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