Helen Tacy Skinner, a resident of Winfield, Illinois, passed away on Monday, September 25, 2023. She was born September 12, 1929, in Hysham, Montana, to Henry Shepard Atkinson and Lilian Valda Hoagland.

Helen was a woman of faith, courage and grace. Born to a circuit-riding preacher who died when Helen was 5 years old, she and her younger brother, Herb, were raised in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, by their widowed mother to love God and to serve Him single-mindedly. After an encounter with a missionary around age 10, Helen knew that God had clearly called her to share the gospel with people in Africa, and her resolve to pursue that calling never wavered. She attended Wheaton College to earn a bachelor's degree in anthropology, and there she met and fell in love with Merrill Skinner, a track athlete who was a strong believer but who didn't share her dream of overseas missions. Realizing that this would hinder her resolve to minister in Africa, Helen broke off her relationship with Merrill – that is, until God in His providence changed Merrill's dream. The two lovebirds eventually resumed their relationship and were married in September 1951, following graduation from Wheaton College. They moved to Colorado where Merrill attended Denver Seminary, and in 1954 they were appointed by the Conservative Baptist Foreign Mission Society (CBFMS, now World Venture) to minister in Ivory Coast, West Africa, where they served for 41 years.

Helen loved the Senoufo people in Ivory Coast, learned to speak their language fluently, and devoted herself to literacy and women's ministries among them. She spent hours typing scripture portions that Merrill and other missionaries translated one by one into Cebaara, the local dialect. She then used those scriptures along with literacy primers that she helped create to teach countless adults to read for the first time in their own language, sitting for long hours on low wooden stools with an African cloth wrapped around her waist for modesty. Mentoring and training women to study the scriptures and teach other women was a source of joy for Helen. Her steadfastness of vision took her down rutted dirt roads with a car full of heavy yams for a womens' conference, through outdoor meat markets to barter with vendors as they weighed cuts on antique scales, along village paths to counsel a young mother in a modest dirt courtyard, and into the hearts of countless women who know and love the Lord Jesus today because of her work. The Philadelphia city girl had courageously fulfilled her calling.

After retirement from CBFMS, Helen and Merrill settled in Aurora, Colorado, where they became active members of Galilee Baptist Church who had helped support them financially throughout their missionary career. Later years brought them closer to family in Florida and finally in Illinois.

Helen is survived by her children Judy (Karl) Stewart, Janet (Duane) Abuhl, Dale (Kathy) Skinner & Donna (Brian) Phillips; her grandchildren Brian (Amy) Stewart, Laura Stewart, Julie (Mark) Myers, David (Sarah) Abuhl, Maegan (Ben) Johnson, Nathan (Christina) Phillips, Andrea Phillips & Hannah Phillips; and her 14 great-grandchildren: Paxton, Raphael, Elowyn, Roger, Hayley, Westen, Jaida, Ashton, Lucia, Rhea, Alexa, Corban, Maeven and Theodore.

She was preceded in death by her beloved husband, Merrill, and her brother, Herbert.

A visitation will be held Wednesday, October 4, 2023 from 9:00 a.m. - 10:00 a.m. at Hultgren Funeral Home, 304 N. Main St., Wheaton, IL 60187, where a memorial service will be held at 10:00 a.m. Interment will be held that afternoon at 2:30 p.m. at Abraham Lincoln National Cemetery, 20953 W. Hoff Rd., Elwood, IL 60421.

A livestream of the memorial service will take place here: Service for Helen Skinner

In lieu of flowers, memorial gifts may be directed to WorldVenture
20 Inverness Pl. E
Englewood, CO 80112
720-283-2000
http://www.worldventure.com
Reference the following project: 6462-910-BEE MANUAL PRODUCTION

Family and friends may sign a guest book at hultgrenfh.com . For more information, please call Hultgren Funeral Home at 630-668-0027.