Ireta Colene Skelton

SAN ANGELO "Susie" Ireta Colene (Taylor) Skelton died at her home Thursday, Aug. 28, 2014. Ireta was born July 8, 1925, on the family farm near Masontown, West Virginia. She was the sixth of seven children born to Lafayette Blaine and Mary Louisa (Radabaugh) Taylor. In 1943, after graduating from Masontown High School, Ireta went to work in Clarksburg, West Virginia, for Bell Telephone as an operator. In 1947, while working for Bell Telephone in Kingwood, WV, she met a cowboy from Texas, Merle "Tuffy" Skelton, who was riding broncs at a rodeo at Terra Alta, West Virginia. Tuffy and Ireta knew each other for six weeks prior to their marriage on Aug. 8, 1947, in Little Rock, Arkansas. Tuffy didn't care for the name Ireta so she became "Susie" and many of her friends didn't know that wasn't her real name. Tuffy and Susie settled and worked on ranches in the Channing, Texas, area where Susie learned to ride horses and wore cowboy boots and a cowboy hat. After working on ranches in Kansas and Arkansas, in 1959, Tuffy and Susie moved to the Pecos, Texas, area. In 1965, Susie went to work for Continental Telephone in Pecos and over the years worked for Contel, GTE and Verizon until she retired in 1987. Susie enjoyed working in spite of working split shifts and at night. The chief operators always knew they could count on Susie to fill in if needed. Susie also enjoyed reading, traveling and spoiling her Boston Terriers. Susie was preceded in death by her parents; her husband of 62 years, Tuffy; her sister, Serita Maxine; her brothers, Herbert, Dane and Warren (Bill); son-in-law Roger Newcomb; and grandson Cary Skelton. Survivors are her son, Gary and wife Mary Skelton of Barstow, Texas; daughters Mary and husband Jerry Wilson of San Angelo, Terry and husband Jim Lyons of Odessa, Texas, and Sherry and husband Steve Asbury of Arlington, Texas. Grandchildren are Jason and wife Amanda Newcomb of Arlington, Texas, Kaysi Newcomb of Grand Prairie, Texas, Cary Skelton of Presidio, Texas, and Toni and husband Ferdinand Smith of Cape Coral, Florida. Great-grandchildren are Austin, Christopher and Samuel Smith and Madelynne Newcomb. Brothers are Cooper Taylor and Claude and wife Ida Taylor, all of Masontown, West Virginia. Also surviving is her beloved Boston Terrier, Miss Minnie. For their love and compassionate care, the family wishes to express our sincere gratitude to Dr. Marvin Carroll, Dr. Michael Blanc, Dr. Robert Prieto, Franz with Medway Home Health, Tonya, Jenni, Kacci, Mike and Charlene with Hospice of San Angelo and our angels here on earth, Janie Trevino and Diane Herrera. A celebration of life service with visitation to follow will be held at 6 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 30, 2014, in Johnson's Funeral Home chapel, 435 W. Beauregard Ave., San Angelo, Texas. At a later date, a service will also be held at Pecos Funeral Home, Pecos, Texas, with interment to follow in Fairview Cemetery. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the West of the Pecos Museum, 120 E. Dot Stafford St., Pecos, TX 79772; or Concho Valley PAWS, 4001 Sunset Drive, Suite 1072, San Angelo, TX 76904. Family and friends may sign the online register book at johnsons-funeralhome.com.