Ramona York Skinner
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Ramona York Skinner of Clinton, SC passed away on Saturday, December 19, 2020 at the Presbyterian Home of Clinton. She was loved by all who had the pleasure of knowing her. Her life was one of commitment, sacrifice, and resilience.
Ramona Ann York was born on May 13, 1939 in Marietta, GA to (Henry) Grady York and Maude Stamper York. She graduated from Osborne High School in 1957, and then went to North Georgia College in Dahlonega, GA, where she majored in Secretarial Science and met the love of her life, James Lister Skinner III.
Ramona and Jim were married in 1961 and then moved to Fayetteville, AR for Jim's graduate work. Ramona worked part-time as a paid typist and part time as an unpaid typist for Jim's dissertation. After Jim served at Selfridge Air Force Base in Mt. Clemens, MI, they moved to Clinton, SC in 1965, where Jim became Professor of English at Presbyterian College, and Ramona became active in the Clinton Music Club and in the League of Women Voters. Extensive summer travels throughout Europe with friends and family generated a lifelong passion for the British Isles and Greece.
When their son Jimmy was born, motherhood for Ramona involved constant care of house and home. Diagnosed with multiple sclerosis, which advanced rapidly in the late 1980's, Ramona continued to serve as classroom muse to her husband's English teaching and was an invaluable assistant in the four books he published.
Jim developed Alzheimer's shortly after his retirement from PC in 2003, and in 2009 the couple moved to the Presbyterian Home of Clinton (PCHC). Ramona was a constant caregiver to her husband until his death in 2016.
Ramona Skinner, such was the breadth of her grace, hated very little of what the world generated, as long as that something or someone did not hurt her family. She loved Luciano Pavarotti, creme brulee, Claude Monet, William Morris, Harrod's Department Store, Walker's Shortbread, Stilton Cheese, handbags of all persuasion, and almost every flower she that she ever saw. Her granddaughter Eleanor Josephine's first six years of her life were a delight to Ramona, and being able to meet her infant granddaughter, Millie Margaret, born in April of this year, was a blessing. Seeing Millie grow over FaceTime brought great joy to Ramona's final days. Her caregivers at PCHC were some of her best friends.
Ramona is survived by her son, James Lister Skinner IV of Decatur, GA (Sarah); granddaughters Eleanor Josephine Skinner and Millie Margaret Lucille Skinner; her sister Brenda York Scott of Marietta, GA; Brothers-in-love (and sisters-in-love) Rev. William Wirt Skinner of Canton, NC (Torpy); Thomas Fry Skinner of Charlotte, NC (Linda); Arthur Norvell Skinner of St. Petersburg, FL (Katrina); and nine nieces and nephews with their children.
No memorial service will be held at this time owing to the COVID-19 pandemic. A private graveside service, followed by internment, will be held December 29th at Mountain View Park Cemetery in Marietta, GA. In lieu of flowers, the family requests that donations in Ramona's memory be made to either the Presbyterian Home of Clinton, SC at 801 Musgrove St. 29325; the First Presbyterian Church of Clinton, SC http://www.fpcclinton.org/, or the Laurens County Hospice. BGray Funeral Home https://www.grayfuneralhome.com/ and Mayes Ward Dobbins Funeral Home in Marietta, GA (www.mayerwarddobbins.com) are in charge of arrangements. Condolences may be left on either funeral home website.