Thelma Louise Skelton

Thelma Louise Skelton was born in the mountains of Northeast Georgia on April 20, 1929.  She was preceded in death by her parents, Claude and Dora Skelton as well as 5 brothers and 5 sisters.  Ophelia Estes is her only surviving sister.  Her husband of 70 years, Rev. Hugh Skelton, also survives as do her son Rev. Allen Skelton and wife Vicky as well as grandchildren including Starla, Bethany and Ryan Skelton and his wife Katie.  Her two great grandchildren include Koral of Atlanta, Georgia, and Luna of Casa Blanca, Morocco.

The 7th of 12 children, Louise spent her youth working on the farm, learning from her mother to be a talented kitchen chef, and finding spiritual strength through the family’s church dedication.  Graduating from high school and business school, Louise was a clerical worker until Tuberculosis sent her to a hospital in Rome, Georgia.  It was there that a letter from her cousin Dorothy, a missionary in Cuba, inspired her to leave the hospital and prepare to visit the mission field in Cuba.  It was a first step to her ministry journey that would take her around the world.

In Cuba, she developed her ability to introduce the Gospel to those in need, to speak Spanish, and surprisingly to find a husband.  On his trip to visit his sister and learn about missions, Hugh Skelton appeared and added the role of wife and eventually mother to her life.  Hugh and Louise returned to Cuba with their young son Allen to work as full-time missionaries and remained there for seven years.  The days were filled with ministry and the establishment of churches that survive today having endured over half a century of Communist rule. 

Louise and her family spent many evenings huddled with neighbors in their Cuban home while rockets exploded over their heads.  Their home stood directly between the rebels of Fidel Castro and defending government forces.  Louise was forced to exit in the last days of the war, returning to the U.S. where one lung was removed in emergency surgery.  

A short ministry in Tampa, Florida, followed and then changed to a long-term ministry in McAllen, Texas.  A major ministry in McAllen was the annual Missionary Training Center where literally hundreds of young people came to study missions and experience ministry in Mexico. The pattern of establishing a new mission’s work across the border in Mexico almost always began with Louise and her Sunday Schools in backyards of local families.  This work would expand to family church services and then a regular church building and a local pastor. She was instrumental in the founding of the Congregational Holiness Church work in Mexico, Central America and South America. 

From the Texas/Mexican border, her work moved to London, England in 1981.  There she spent five years feeding, teaching and comforting homesick men at the Center for International Church Ministries.  It was cold, wet, and culturally diverse, but Louise was almost a “mother” to leaders of churches from around the world.

A return to Northeast Georgia in 1987 would set her final base for mission work.  The years became filled with mission trips and interpreting for medical personnel as a part of Allen and Vicky’s ministry based in Honduras.  She delighted to distribute reading glasses and give testimony of her faith to patients in the clinics.  At home, she continued to host missionaries and ministers … to feed them with delicious meals combined with spiritual guidance.  Her days always began with Bible reading and prayer.  As her health failed, she continued to share her faith in local prayer groups and with a constant flow of visitors to the Skelton household. 

Her passing is news marked by many countries and communities around the world.  Her life stands as an inspiration as to what one woman, dedicated to God’s work can accomplish.  Until we all gather in God’s heaven, “Farewell, Dear Louise.  You have blessed our lives with spiritual meaning and love everlasting.”

Visitation will be at Free Chapel Church on Friday, April 30, 2021 from 12:00 p.m. until 2:00 p.m. Funeral services will be held at 2:00 p.m. on Friday, April 30, 2021 at Free Chapel Church with Bishop Ronald Wilson, Dr. Sam Chand, Pastor Jentezen Franklin and Rev. Allen Skelton officiating. Interment will follow in Union Grove Congregational Holiness Church Cemetery in Cleveland, GA with Rev. Darryl Lovell officiating.

In lieu of flowers, you may send a donation to Louise’s favorite mission organization: White Fields, 3773 Trenton Court, Gainesville, GA  30504 or through their website at www.whitefieldsmissions.net

Memorial Park Funeral Home, 2030 Memorial Park Road, Gainesville, GA  30504 is in charge of arrangements.

Send online condolences to www.memorialparkfuneralhomes.com