Gregory Lon Skinner, 76, passed away peacefully on January 23, 2026, after a long illness. He was surrounded by family at home in Cordova, Tennessee. Greg was born on May 29, 1949, in Bluffton, Ohio, to Joseph and Alice Jean “Jeannie” (Bassett) Skinner, who preceded him in death.
Greg spent his early childhood with his parents and sister, Amy, in upstate New York before the family settled in Lima, Ohio. Summer weekends were spent on the water boating, skiing and exploring their favorite lakes: Cayuga, Indian and Erie. A 1967 graduate of Lima Senior High School, Greg served as class president, participated in numerous service and academic clubs and was of member of the football and tennis teams. While playing violin in the school orchestra, he met the love of his life, Anita.
Greg went on to study Visual and Environmental Design at Harvard University. During the 1969 winter break of his junior year, he married Anita Sims in a small Christmas Eve ceremony in Lima. After a short honeymoon, the newlyweds returned to their respective campuses to continue their studies. In Greg’s final year in Cambridge, MA, the couple lived together in a 20th floor married student housing flat overlooking the Charles River and downtown Boston. He graduated magna cum laude in 1971.
Following the sudden passing of his father, Greg chose to forgo graduate school and returned to Lima, where he tended to his father’s business, built a career in design and began raising a family. Life soon revolved around school events, music lessons and sports for his three children, Lisa, Andrea and Tim. Greg played violin with the Lima Symphony Orchestra, learned the art of home maintenance and was an avid reader and skilled furniture builder.
He had a deep admiration for the American West and planned annual cross country family road trips featuring a soundtrack of 1960s folk music, CB radio chatter and games of Trivial Pursuit with their travelling caravan. Days spent hiking, camping and exploring the scenery were captured through the lens of Greg’s trusted Nikon camera and have become sacred visual memories.
For more than 30 years, Greg worked alongside his uncle at their family-owned landscape architecture firm, Bassett Associates. Many relatives including his mother and children, and several cousins also worked with him at the studio over the years. As a Principal of the Lima-based company, Greg earned licensure in four states and contributed to hundreds of master plans and site designs for college campuses, downtown streetscapes, parks and zoos nationwide. He represented the firm at national conferences and produced photography for client projects. He built a darkroom in the office basement where he taught his children the art and patience of developing film.
Some of Greg’s best years came after retirement when he embraced cooking, traveled the world with Anita and explored the cultural offerings near their new home in Memphis. He digitized mountains of film slides and travel logs, continued running the family salve business, cared for their pets and had time to read plenty of books. Most of all, Greg enjoyed being a grandfather. Whether playing cards, attending soccer games or musical productions, spending quality family time kept his heart full.
Greg is survived by his loving wife of 56 years, Anita Sims Skinner; daughters Lisa (Jason) Rader of Collierville, TN and Andrea (Scott) LeBlond of Harmony, FL; son Tim Skinner (Mikalene Guiser) of Columbus, OH; grandsons Cameron, Austin and Daniel Rader, and Gabriel LeBlond; sister Amy (Mark) Lane; and nieces Kit and Jessie Huelskamp.
A private celebration of life will be held later this year, appropriately, on a family trip to the mountains. In lieu of flowers, please consider donations in Greg’s honor to organizations that enriched his life in Tennessee, including the Memphis Symphony, West Cancer Center and Methodist LeBonheur Hospice.
https://memphissymphony.org/donate
https://methodisthealth.org/hospice
https://westcancerfoundation.org/tribute
Greg spent his early childhood with his parents and sister, Amy, in upstate New York before the family settled in Lima, Ohio. Summer weekends were spent on the water boating, skiing and exploring their favorite lakes: Cayuga, Indian and Erie. A 1967 graduate of Lima Senior High School, Greg served as class president, participated in numerous service and academic clubs and was of member of the football and tennis teams. While playing violin in the school orchestra, he met the love of his life, Anita.
Greg went on to study Visual and Environmental Design at Harvard University. During the 1969 winter break of his junior year, he married Anita Sims in a small Christmas Eve ceremony in Lima. After a short honeymoon, the newlyweds returned to their respective campuses to continue their studies. In Greg’s final year in Cambridge, MA, the couple lived together in a 20th floor married student housing flat overlooking the Charles River and downtown Boston. He graduated magna cum laude in 1971.
Following the sudden passing of his father, Greg chose to forgo graduate school and returned to Lima, where he tended to his father’s business, built a career in design and began raising a family. Life soon revolved around school events, music lessons and sports for his three children, Lisa, Andrea and Tim. Greg played violin with the Lima Symphony Orchestra, learned the art of home maintenance and was an avid reader and skilled furniture builder.
He had a deep admiration for the American West and planned annual cross country family road trips featuring a soundtrack of 1960s folk music, CB radio chatter and games of Trivial Pursuit with their travelling caravan. Days spent hiking, camping and exploring the scenery were captured through the lens of Greg’s trusted Nikon camera and have become sacred visual memories.
For more than 30 years, Greg worked alongside his uncle at their family-owned landscape architecture firm, Bassett Associates. Many relatives including his mother and children, and several cousins also worked with him at the studio over the years. As a Principal of the Lima-based company, Greg earned licensure in four states and contributed to hundreds of master plans and site designs for college campuses, downtown streetscapes, parks and zoos nationwide. He represented the firm at national conferences and produced photography for client projects. He built a darkroom in the office basement where he taught his children the art and patience of developing film.
Some of Greg’s best years came after retirement when he embraced cooking, traveled the world with Anita and explored the cultural offerings near their new home in Memphis. He digitized mountains of film slides and travel logs, continued running the family salve business, cared for their pets and had time to read plenty of books. Most of all, Greg enjoyed being a grandfather. Whether playing cards, attending soccer games or musical productions, spending quality family time kept his heart full.
Greg is survived by his loving wife of 56 years, Anita Sims Skinner; daughters Lisa (Jason) Rader of Collierville, TN and Andrea (Scott) LeBlond of Harmony, FL; son Tim Skinner (Mikalene Guiser) of Columbus, OH; grandsons Cameron, Austin and Daniel Rader, and Gabriel LeBlond; sister Amy (Mark) Lane; and nieces Kit and Jessie Huelskamp.
A private celebration of life will be held later this year, appropriately, on a family trip to the mountains. In lieu of flowers, please consider donations in Greg’s honor to organizations that enriched his life in Tennessee, including the Memphis Symphony, West Cancer Center and Methodist LeBonheur Hospice.
https://memphissymphony.org/donate
https://methodisthealth.org/hospice
https://westcancerfoundation.org/tribute
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