SPRINGFIELD - Byron E. Skinner, 71, passed away at 10:25 A.M. Saturday, June 4, 2011 at Memorial Medical Center. He was born January 15, 1940 in Springfield, IL to Jesse and Bertha (Murrell) Skinner. He married Mary E. Marlin on January 22,1961 in Mt. Vernon, IL. Byron served four years in the U. S. Navy and later retired as a MSGT from the U. S. Air Force. He was a Sangamon County Deputy, later joining the Illinois Bureau of Investigation (I.B.I.). He was a member of the Illinois State Police Investigative Unit and retired as a MSGT, a member of the State Police Association, a forty-three year member of the Divernon Lodge #1158 AF&AM, a licensed pilot with an instrument license, and a member of the Rochester United Methodist Church. He is survived by his wife, Mary; one daughter, Sheryl Covington (husband, Michael) of Springfield; one son, Michael E. Skinner of Rochester; three grandchildren: Bobby Liberman, Cheyanne Covington and Torri Covington; three sisters: Shirley Gray (husband, Harry) of Peoria, Joyce Faron of Centralia, Janice Eby (husband, Sterling) of Glenarm; and several nieces and nephews. Visitation will be held on Tuesday, June 7 from 4 until 7 P.M. at the Wilson Park Funeral Home in Rochester, IL. Funeral services will be held at 10:00 A.M. Wednesday at the funeral home with Reverend Jack Swank officiating. Burial will follow in Brush Creek Cemetery in Divernon. Memorials may be made to the American Cancer Society . Please visit our website at wilsonparkfuneralhome.com.