Sandra Lee Skinner
February 23, 1941 — September 26, 2023
Sandra Lee (Horn) Skinner, 82, passed away peacefully on Tuesday, September 26, 2023, at her home after a short battle with cancer. Funeral services for Sandy will be held at 11 a.m., on Saturday, September 30 at Holy Cross Lutheran Church in Carlisle. After a luncheon at the church, a procession and burial will follow at the Pleasantville Cemetery at 2 p.m. Visitation will be held at Holy Cross on Friday, September 29 from 6 to 8 p.m., and from 10 to 10:45 a.m., on Saturday, prior to the funeral.
Sandy was born on February 23, 1941 in Iowa City, Iowa. She was raised on the Horn family farm, just southwest of Pleasantville, Iowa. The eighth of nine children, Sandy graduated from Pleasantville High School in 1959.
She was working for Northwestern Bell Telephone in Des Moines when she and a friend took a trip to visit the Black Hills in the summer of 1963. During that vacation, Sandy met James Skinner, who was stationed in the U.S. Air Force in Rapid City, S.D. After that, Sandy and Jim exchanged letters, phone calls and visits until they were married on November 28, 1964 at Trinity Lutheran Church in Knoxville, Iowa.
After Jim was discharged from military service, the couple moved to Des Moines and they eventually purchased a home just north of Indianola, where they started their family. Sandy gave birth to three sons in three years. When time allowed, she enjoyed embroidery, sewing, gardening, canning, and playing piano.
As a racer’s wife, she embraced her support role and kept busy many summers with the rigors of stock car racing at multiple tracks. In the winters, she loved watching basketball on television, especially college men’s hoops and the 6-on-6 Iowa Girls State High School Tournament. Sandy dearly loved her grandchildren, family reunions and playing card games, especially Canasta, and she looked forward to a monthly Pinochle game with her siblings. She also cared for many family pets over the years.
She was a member of her local TOPS Club (Taking Off Pounds Sensibly) for more than 45 years and held multiple officer roles, including weight recorder for 10 years. Her employers included RGIS Inventory, Norwest Bank and Walmart. During their retirement years, Sandy and Jim volunteered with the Lacona Meals on Wheels program.
Sandy was preceded in death by her parents, Frank, Sr., and Martha (Timm) Horn, brothers Roland Horn and his wife Bernice, Frank Horn, Jr., and his wife Lois, Ervin Horn, Richard Horn, and Shirley Dean Horn; sister Thelma Taylor; mother-in-law Elva “Peggy” Wildman; brothers-in-law Carroll Buzzard, Ronald Glick, Merle Fletcher, and Ken Lambrecht; and sister-in-law Elaine Skinner.
Sandy is survived by her husband, Jim, of rural Lacona, and her three sons, Karl of Lincoln, Neb., Craig of Indianola and Todd of Lacona; grandsons Nicholas (Krista) Skinner of Ankeny and Jacob Skinner (fiancé Kassie Meyer) of Des Moines; granddaughters Camille and Elise of Pleasant Hill; sisters Lillian Buzzard of Hartford and Susan Glick of Indianola; brother-in-law Wayne Skinner of Osceola, Wis.; sisters-in-law Sondra Horn of Morrison, Ill., Margaret Fletcher of Little Falls, Minn., and Cheryl Lambrecht of Royalton, Minn.; and 34 nieces and nephews.
Memorial gifts may be designated to Holy Cross Lutheran Church in Carlisle or to the donor’s choice.
Sandy was born on February 23, 1941 in Iowa City, Iowa. She was raised on the Horn family farm, just southwest of Pleasantville, Iowa. The eighth of nine children, Sandy graduated from Pleasantville High School in 1959.
She was working for Northwestern Bell Telephone in Des Moines when she and a friend took a trip to visit the Black Hills in the summer of 1963. During that vacation, Sandy met James Skinner, who was stationed in the U.S. Air Force in Rapid City, S.D. After that, Sandy and Jim exchanged letters, phone calls and visits until they were married on November 28, 1964 at Trinity Lutheran Church in Knoxville, Iowa.
After Jim was discharged from military service, the couple moved to Des Moines and they eventually purchased a home just north of Indianola, where they started their family. Sandy gave birth to three sons in three years. When time allowed, she enjoyed embroidery, sewing, gardening, canning, and playing piano.
As a racer’s wife, she embraced her support role and kept busy many summers with the rigors of stock car racing at multiple tracks. In the winters, she loved watching basketball on television, especially college men’s hoops and the 6-on-6 Iowa Girls State High School Tournament. Sandy dearly loved her grandchildren, family reunions and playing card games, especially Canasta, and she looked forward to a monthly Pinochle game with her siblings. She also cared for many family pets over the years.
She was a member of her local TOPS Club (Taking Off Pounds Sensibly) for more than 45 years and held multiple officer roles, including weight recorder for 10 years. Her employers included RGIS Inventory, Norwest Bank and Walmart. During their retirement years, Sandy and Jim volunteered with the Lacona Meals on Wheels program.
Sandy was preceded in death by her parents, Frank, Sr., and Martha (Timm) Horn, brothers Roland Horn and his wife Bernice, Frank Horn, Jr., and his wife Lois, Ervin Horn, Richard Horn, and Shirley Dean Horn; sister Thelma Taylor; mother-in-law Elva “Peggy” Wildman; brothers-in-law Carroll Buzzard, Ronald Glick, Merle Fletcher, and Ken Lambrecht; and sister-in-law Elaine Skinner.
Sandy is survived by her husband, Jim, of rural Lacona, and her three sons, Karl of Lincoln, Neb., Craig of Indianola and Todd of Lacona; grandsons Nicholas (Krista) Skinner of Ankeny and Jacob Skinner (fiancé Kassie Meyer) of Des Moines; granddaughters Camille and Elise of Pleasant Hill; sisters Lillian Buzzard of Hartford and Susan Glick of Indianola; brother-in-law Wayne Skinner of Osceola, Wis.; sisters-in-law Sondra Horn of Morrison, Ill., Margaret Fletcher of Little Falls, Minn., and Cheryl Lambrecht of Royalton, Minn.; and 34 nieces and nephews.
Memorial gifts may be designated to Holy Cross Lutheran Church in Carlisle or to the donor’s choice.
To order memorial trees or send flowers to the family in memory of Sandra Lee Skinner, please visit our flower store.