Former Wofford College Chaplain Rev. Dr. Talmage B. Skinner Jr. has died
May 31, 2018
The Rev. Dr. Talmage Boyd Skinner Jr., former Perkins-Prothro Chaplain and Professor of Religion at Wofford College and a member of the Class of 1956, died away early this morning (Thursday, May 31, 2018).
Skinner, 84, was chaplain at Wofford from 1986 until his retirement in 2003. He was named the college’s first Perkins-Prothro Chaplain and Professor of Religion in 1997. Skinner and his wife, Beverly, remained involved at the college for many years after his retirement, continuing to be a positive force on the campus. In 2005, they jointly were awarded the Wofford Alumni Distinguished Service Award.
“During his tenure as Wofford’s chaplain, Talmage Skinner established an important and effective ‘ministry of presence’ on campus,” says President Nayef Samhat. “He worked with denominational religious fellowships and student volunteer services. He and Beverly also were counselors and friends to a generation of students. I am told he officiated more than 80 weddings involving members of the Wofford family. He will be greatly missed by our students, alumni, faculty, staff, trustees and the many Wofford friends who came to know him.”
Over his lifetime in the United Methodist ministry, Skinner had been pastor of local congregations in South Carolina and Tennessee, and he served for 10 years as chaplain and an instructor at Spartanburg Methodist College.
In 2008, Ben Waldrop, a 1993 alumnus, and his wife, Aimee, donated the initial gift for a new endowed scholarship, the Talmage Boyd Skinner Jr. ’56 and Beverly Keadle Skinner Endowed Scholarship Fund. It was designed to assist students who, due to unforeseen circumstances, are at risk of having to withdraw from Wofford.
Skinner often was quoted as saying, “You don’t come to Wofford – you join it.”
In addition to his wife, Skinner is survived by a daughter, Valerie Skinner Hendricks, Wofford Class of 1990, and her husband, Arthur (Artie) W.M. Hendricks, also Class of 1990, and granddaughter Smith Hendricks (16) and grandson Talmage Kirkwood (TK) Hendricks (10).
A memorial service will be held at 3 p.m. Wednesday, June 6, at Pleasant Grove United Methodist Church, 4415 Pleasant Grove Church Road, Raleigh, N.C. 27613. Arrangements are being handled by Mitchell Funeral Home at Raleigh Memorial Park in Raleigh, N.C.
Wofford College will hold a memorial service on campus later in June. Details will be announced when they become available.
