HAMPTON, N.H. — Helen Elizabeth Skinner, 63, of Hampton, died on Saturday, Feb. 12, 2011 at the Merrimack Valley Hospice House in Haverhill, with her loving husband and dear friends at her side.

She was born in Marion, Ohio, on June 29, 1947, one of seven children to the late Alphonse and Lucy (Moore) Lavalley. Helen was raised in Marion, Ohio and Grand Rapids, Mich., and attended Aquinas College in Grand Rapids. She met the love of her life, Mitchell Skinner, while he was still in the Air Force and the couple were married in 1971 on Kirtland Air Force Base in Albuquerque, N.M. They moved to the New England seacoast in 1974 and eventually settled in Hampton.

Helen worked as the assistant librarian at the Brown Library in Seabrook and the Lane Library in Hampton and also was employed at Nature's Outpost in North Hampton for a time. She enjoyed kayaking, sailing and being outdoors. She and Mitch spent many hours hiking and backpack camping together, often in isolated places with no other human beings for miles. She loved animals and nature, especially her many rescued cocker spaniels and her special cockatiel, Sydney. She particularly loved her times with Mitch at their house on Thompson Lake in Otisville, ME.

In addition to her husband of nearly 40 years, Mitch Skinner of Hampton, she is survived by her sisters, Suzanne Russell and her husband Gayle of Collierville, Tenn., Margaret Lavalley of Royal Oak, Mich., and Mary Williamson of Waco, Texas; several nieces and nephews and many special friends. She was predeceased by her parents, her brother Gregory Lavalley and her sisters, Linda Sonerndike and Lois Bowen.