Leonard Edward Skinner

Leonard Edward Skinner, age 93, passed away on November 26, 2024, in Austin, Texas.

 “Leo” was born on February 15, 1931, in Los Angeles to Lilly Mae Skinner and Howard Elmer Skinner. Leo attended Van Nuys High School while living at the McKinley Home for Boys. There he made lifelong friends and had many adventures including playing football and jumping off the Huntington Beach Pier. 

 Although he never took a foreign language course, thinking he wouldn’t go to college, Leo graduated from Wheaton College in 1953, where he discovered his natural affinity for languages, and exceled in Biblical Greek. Leo obtained a Master’s Degree in Latin American Studies from University of Southern California in 1974. In 1953- 54 he served two years as a Chaplain’s Assistant stationed in South Korea and Japan (in peacetime). Leo especially enjoyed learning a bit of Japanese and photographing the countryside. In 1957, Leo attended Jungle Camp in Chiapas, Mexico in preparation for his work as a linguist with Wycliffe Bible Translators/Summer Institute of Linguistics. There he trained for how to live in a remote sub-tropical rainforest. From there, he studied intensive Spanish in Mexico City. 

 In 1958, he married Marlene whom he had met at Oklahoma University a couple years earlier taking graduate linguistic courses. Together they moved to the remote village of Usila, Oaxaca, Mexico, where with local co-translators, they developed an alphabet and writing system for the complicated tonal language of Chinantec. Leo taught the Chinantecos how to read their own language and published literacy materials, folk tales, the New Testament, Old Testament Summary, and a bilingual Chinantec-Spanish dictionary. He also provided basic medical care for the Chinantecos. The Skinners, with their two daughters, Brenda and Carolyn, also lived in the Zapotec town of Mitla, and Mexico City. Leo was curious and appreciative of the culture, folk art, and archeology of the Mexican people. In later years, Leo and Marlene taught linguistics in Dallas, Guatemala and England. Leo was known for being kind, respectful and friendly to all he met. He enjoyed nature and reading and was a wonderful storyteller. 

 He is survived by his wife, Marlene; daughter Carolyn (Walter), and two grandsons, Adam Paricio-Moreau (Lindsey) and Gabriel Moreau. Preceded in death by daughter, Brenda Skinner and brother, Lowell Skinner. Leo is also survived by many nieces and nephews, who will miss him greatly.

 A graveside service will be held on December 4 at Onion Creek Memorial Park. A memorial service and celebration of his life will be on December 28, 2024, at 1 p.m. at St. George’s Episcopal Church, Austin, Texas.