Phillip Eugene Skinner

Phillip Eugene Skinner, devoted husband, father, grandfather, and outdoorsman, died on March 21st, just shy of his 82nd birthday. Phillip, otherwise known as Gene, used multiple monikers to describe himself throughout his lifetime. Among the many hats he wore was that of a silly poet, and he could often be heard chiming "Gene, the lean, mean, green, fighting machine" in his earlier years, and "Gene, Gene, the dancing machine," later in life.

Gene loved the wilderness and was an avid hunter and fisherman. He excelled in hunting all types of animals, from small game, such as quail, to larger game, including elk. His ideal vacation was hunting with his beloved boys or spending endless hours in the wildlife section of natural history museums, marveling at the beauty of the wildlife and their habitats.

While Gene scouted, hunted, fished, and worked with his sons, he also found time for his youngest child – his only daughter and little princess. At least yearly, she was treated to a father-daughter outing at Disney on Ice or a Judd's concert.

Working in construction and maintenance, there was nothing he couldn't build or fix, and he constantly used his skills to help others. During his life, he helped the widows in his church with various construction or maintenance projects, supported family members and friends with various tasks, and even single-handedly demolished, dry walled, and finished a school library in Black Canyon City. Never resting for a moment, he could be found working on his own home in the wee hours of the morning-while his irritated children tried to sleep-as he installed beautiful new flooring, built new rooms, and even maintained a pretty impressive garden.

Gene was the most passionate husband, giving thanks to God for his beautiful wife daily. During their 48 years of marriage, he made no attempts to hide his adoration for the love of his life, Debbie, often grabbing a cheek or honking a boob while his embarrassed children laughed and shouted, "Ewwwww!" He, along with Debbie, set an example for undying, unconditional love.

Gene loved life and was determined to enjoy it as long as humanly possible, fighting every single ailment that attempted to take him down. The man was too strong, too determined, and far too stubborn to allow a little brain tumor, congestive heart failure, or prostate cancer to defeat him. Surprisingly, his body encapsulated and destroyed its own bone cancer just to prove a point. Although he was adamant that he was going to live to be 100 or 110 right up to the last minute, ultimately, after 10 long years of battling the only disease that could ever win, Alzheimer's, he finally passed on. Remarkably, he remembered every last one of us until his final hours.

Gene is survived by his wife, Debra, his sons, Randy, Leslie, Scott, and Shawn, and his daughter, Amber Shannon, his 12 grandchildren, Taryn Reynolds, Ryan Skinner, Justin Skinner, Kelsey Bever, Taylor Skinner, Shelby Davis, Colton Skinner, Isabella Skinner, Shawn Skinner, Jr., Wyatt Skinner, Grace Shannon and Liam Shannon, and 10 great grandchildren, sisters Mary Perkins and Sandy Narayanan and nieces, and nephews.

Gene is preceded in death by his son, Gary Skinner, his brother, John Skinner, and his father and mother, Fred and Frances Denton.

A Celebration of Life will be held at his son's home in Phoenix, AZ. In lieu of flowers, memorial donations may be given to Arizona Game and Fish Conservation fund through https://www.azwildlifehero.com/.