Vernon Wayne Skinner

Vernon Wayne Skinner, 63, died Sunday at St. Vincent's Doctor's Hospital in Little Rock. Wayne was born Nov. 18, 1946, in Holly Grove to Vernon Earl Skinner and Florence Simmons Skinner. He was a mechanic, musician, truck driver, carpenter, plumber and electrician -- a true jack-of-all-trades. He built many cars, boats, motorcycles, even his own house. A true gear head, he raced everything with wheels -- motorcycles, cars, trucks -- it didn't matter -- as long as it was fast. He was a well-known fixture on the lower Arkansas River with his loud, fast boats. Besides his parents, he was preceded in death by his step-mother, Ina Mae Skinner; and granddaughter, Stormy River Lee Russell. Survivors are one son, David (Lisa) Skinner of Stuttgart; two daughters, Lisa Skinner of DeWitt and Misty Russell of Turner, Ark.; two brothers, Jesse (Sherry) Skinner of Dierks, Ark., and Ricky (Gayla) Goetz of Stuttgart; three sisters, Nina Bertrandt and Dorothy DeMoss of Hot Springs and Sandy (Claude) Buckley of Maumelle; five grandchildren, Tara (Cody) Shook, Hannah (Jeremy) Covington, Logan Dunlap, Tanner Dunlap and Matilyn Cox; one great-granddaughter, Lola Kate Shook; and his former wife, Mary Ainsworth Skinner. A memorial celebration of Wayne's life will be at 6 p.m., Saturday, July 24, at Yoder Community Center. Memorials may be made to Arkansas Cancer Research Center, UAMS, 4301 W. Markham #623, Little Rock, Ark. 72205. Please go to www.turpinco.com to sign the online guestbook.