Eleanor Joan Skelton

Eleanor Joan Skelton, 90 passed away peacefully at her Boise home on Friday, May 30, 2025. Eleanor was born on 2 March, 1935 in Nampa, ID to Ralph and Mary Brady. Her father was a Union Pacific agent/telegrapher and the family resided in train depots in Orchard and Kuna. Eleanor graduated from Kuna High School in 1953 and attended Marylhurst College, OR. As a child, she started a life-long doll collecting hobby and loved pet cats, dogs and rabbits. She swam in Kuna's Indian Creek in the summer and skated there in the winter.

In 1954-55, she worked as a secretary at Nampa Federal Savings and Loan. A longtime acquaintance with C. "Ben" Skelton of Kuna blossomed into love as they exchanged letters during Ben's U.S. Air Force flight school training. They married in August 1955, at Saint Paul's Catholic Church in Nampa, ID. Over a 26-year military career, they raised four sons at numerous U.S. and foreign duty stations before retiring in Boise to be close to her parents. She was a competitive bowler, golfer and bridge player. She enjoyed crossword puzzles, yard care and neighborhood walks. She was also an avid Boise Broncos, Notre Dame, Dallas Cowboys and Chicago Cubs fan. Eleanor was committed to her Catholic faith and especially devoted to our Blessed Mother, Mary and daily praying the rosary.

Eleanor is survived by three sons, James and wife Jo; David and wife Becky; Mark and wife Rochelle; daughter-in-law Vicki Jo (Ben C.); 8 grandchildren; 17 great-grandchildren and many nieces and nephews. She is preceded in death by her parents, husband, C. Ben, son, Ben C. , brother, Hugh, and sister, Colleen.

Vigil service, followed by a rosary, will be at 7pm, 10 June at Sacred Heart Catholic Church (SHCC) in Boise. A funeral Mass will be held at 11 am, 11 June at SHCC followed by a reception. A family attended committal service will be at the Idaho State Veterans Cemetery.

The family is grateful for the attentive, compassionate care of her hospice team who nursed her, and friends and family who consoled and prayed for her. Special thanks to her two nieces, Shannon Reed and MaryJo Compton, "the daughters she never had" for their amazing kindness and support. The family suggests memorials to Sacred Heart Catholic Church or Alzheimer's research.