Lois Ileene Freeman Skelton

Lois Ileene Freeman Skelton, age 85, passed away peacefully from non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma at the home of her daughter on March 13, 2023.

Lois was born July 1, 1937, in Salina, Kansas, the daughter of the late James Ranson Freeman and the late Ruby Belle Nelson Freeman. She was a 1955 graduate of Salina High School and was an accomplished pianist and cellist.  She married her former husband, the late Vadah “Sonny” Skelton in 1957 and they spent the next 10 years moving with their children, Julie and Tim, from base to base with the United States Air Force. In 1967, they were transferred to Myrtle Beach Air Force Base. Lois worked as office manager for Dr. John Yoder, the first orthopedic surgeon in the Myrtle Beach area, for five years in the early 1970s. In 1977 she became the first non-family employee at Surfside Realty Company and worked there for E.J. Servant and then Mil Servant for 38 years, rising to the position of Director of Accounting and Association Management until her retirement at the end of 2014.  After not playing for 17 years, Lois became church pianist at Surfside Baptist Church in 1972, then began her service at Garden City Baptist Church in 1977, where she played until December 2019.

In addition to her parents, she was predeceased by her son, Timothy Lynn Skelton of Los Angeles, California in 2016, and her brother James Robert Freeman of Salina, Kansas in February 2023.

She is survived by her daughter, Julie Anne Skelton of Murrells Inlet, sisters Darlene Volk of Osgood, Indiana, Cynthia Holcomb and Loretta Gassid, both of Skiatook, Oklahoma, and numerous cousins, nieces, nephews and dear friends who will all miss her dearly.

A special thanks to the caregivers at First Light Home Care, especially Tawanda Nixon, and Caris Healthcare Hospice and Robin Murphey, R.N.

Memorials may be made to the charity of your choice or the Garden City Baptist Church Music Fund at 501 Pine Avenue, Garden City Beach, SC 29576.

A celebration of Lois’s life will be held at 11 a.m. on Monday, April 24, 2023, at Garden City Baptist Church at the address above, followed by a luncheon and visitation.

Burroughs Funeral Home and Cremation Services of Murrells Inlet is assisting the family with arrangements.

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