Mr. Eric Lee Skinner of Hanford, California and former longtime resident of Corvallis and Albany, Oregon passed away December 26, 2023, at Adventist Health Hospital in Hanford. He was 71 years old.  Eric was born into an Air Force Military family to Wilbur and Dorothy Skinner on March 28, 1952, in Detroit, Michigan.  His family continued their journey across the country from Michigan to Illinois and onto Alaska and settled in Fairfield, California.  Eric attended and graduated from Armijo High School, Fairfield, California, Class of 1970.

Eric was a proud United States Navy Veteran.  He served as an Avionics/Computer Technician from 1970 to 1974 and left the Navy to pursue a college education.  Eric earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Marketing and Finance from the University of Phoenix, Arizona and was very proud of this accomplishment.

In June of 1976 Eric started his career with Hewlett Packard.  Eric worked for Hewlett Packard for 27 years in many capacities.  His last position was Executive Director (VP-level) Americas Region Learning/Development Delivery, and he retired from Hewlett Packard in May of 2007.

Eric became a licensed Oregon Real Estate Broker for Keller Williams Realty.  He then became an in-house loan officer and proceeded to try other areas of interest until he found his niche.  Eric was always good with numbers and decided to try tax preparation.  He was hired by H & R Block, acquired his license, and went to work preparing tax returns.  He later volunteered with ARRP and prepared tax returns, until his health no longer permitted.

In 2010, he met and married the love of his life, Sherri Eskridge Skinner.  Together settled in Albany, Oregon for the next 10 years.  In 2019 Eric and Sherri relocated to Hanford California to be closer to their families and to play more golf.  Eric started playing golf at a young age and went on to become a great golfer.  He was very passionate about the sport.  Although his health didn't allow him to play as often as he would have liked to, he always looked forward to getting back to playing.

Eric attended Koinonia Church in Hanford.  He was passionate about the children's ministry program and taught fifth grade.  Prior to his April 10, 2023, surgery he worked diligently recruiting teachers for the Childrens Ministry.  Eric held positions such as an Elder and Treasurer at a previous church he attended in Oregon.  His faith motivated him to keep pushing forward as he fought cancer.

Upon moving to Hanford, Eric joined the Fraternal order of the Elks to meet more people in the community.  He served as Chaplin 2022-2023.

For fun, Eric enjoyed building and flying radio-controlled model airplanes and flew drones as well.  He had a passion for vehicles and took great pride in keeping them in excellent condition, no matter what age the vehicle was.  He enjoyed camping and traveling with his wife and dogs and spending time with family and friends.  Eric was a passionate puzzle fanatic and would spend hours building beautiful puzzles given to him by many friends.

Although he claimed to be an introvert, he made friends wherever he went. He will be best remembered as a very loving, kind, generous and devoted husband, father, and grandfather.  He will be greatly missed.

Eric is survived by his loving wife Sherri Skinner, four daughters, Allison Fromong, Margaret Hill-Skinner, Sarah Hill-Skinner, and Nicole Hilton, a brother, John Skinner, a sister, Dorothy Andrews, and three grandsons.  He was preceded in death by his parents, Wilbur Skinner and Dorothy Skinner-Michniecwicz and a brother Gary Skinner.

A celebration of life gathering will be held in March hosted by his wife, Sherri Skinner.