Longtime Hopkins area farmer and auctioneer Homer Skinner died Thursday, Sept. 30, at Majestic Care of Battle Creek.
Homer was born Jan. 16, 1960, in Monterey Township, son of the late Howard and Sarah Jane Skinner-Simmons. He graduated from Hopkins High School in 1979.
Homer started working on the farm at the age of 10 feeding day old calves, 500 to be exact. At the age of 12 he started milking cows for Lynn and Marsha Beltman Dairy Farm and worked on both farms until the age of 17.
Next, he went on to work at Dog Life Corporation until the mid-eighties. Homer then entered the wholesale and auctioneering business. Homer worked in a lot of auction houses across the state of Michigan. Toward the end of the 1980s Homer partnered with Harold McNutt and started S & M Auction Service.
In 1996 he quit the auction business and started selling cars for Carl Sparks until 2003 and then started a butcher shop in Bloomingdale until failing health caused him to sell the butcher shop in 2008.
Homer always liked to stay busy so he bought vans and trucks and started driving for the Amish. His journey with the Amish took him over 30 different states. He had a big heart and a deep love for the Amish people and their culture.
Surviving is a sister, Leah Jane Halstead; brother Comer Lance Skinner; 2 nephews; a special cousin Doris Inkster; his dog Sissy and a special friend Elizabeth “Lily” Bryan.
Family and friends can gather on Friday, Oct. 8, from 11 a.m. until time of funeral at 1 p.m. at the Bloomingdale Chapel, D. L. Miller Funeral Home, www.dlmillerfuneralhome.com. Interment will follow in Robinson Cemetery.
