Graveside services for Ronald “Keith” Skelley, 88, of Causey, NM will be held at 1:00 PM, Fri., Jan. 11, 2019 in the Portales Cemetery with his son, Lawrence Skelley and other family members officiating. Various family members will serve as pallbearers.
Ronald Keith Skelley was born Jan. 7, 1931, in Dodge City, KS to the home of Beulah May (White) and John Whitson Skelley, and died just one day after his 88th birthday in Roswell, NM where he had been for the past few months. Mr. Skelley grew up in Colorado Springs, CO, and attended the School for the Deaf there. On Nov. 19, 1950 he was married to Alma Faye Austin. They made their home in the Albuquerque area for 40 years or more, where he a licensed building contractor, building homes from the ground up. Mr. Skelley did the concrete, carpentry, plumbing and electrical work. For more than 30 of those years he was employed as a cabinet maker for the Sandia Labs. They later lived in Winnemucca, NV for about 20 years where he was also a licensed building contractor. In 1996, they moved to Causey to be near their son and his family. After moving to Causey, Mr. Skelley continued remodeling and improving homes in the area. He enjoyed fishing and making furniture. He also made good use of computers and electronic devices to not only play games, but to communicate with his many friends.
He is survived by three sons and two daughters-in-law, Lawrence and Donene Skelley of Ruidoso, NM, Ronald J. and Ann Skelley of Rio Rancho, NM and Jerry N. Skelley of Causey; a daughter and son-in-law, Debi and David Sant of Hagerman, NM; 18 grandchildren, 52 great-grandchildren and 1 great-great-grandchild and another expected later this year. He was preceded in death by his beloved wife, Alma on April 8, 2015.
