Michael “Mike” Arnold Skipper, a longtime minister of music in the Tuscaloosa and Northport area, died Aug. 9. He was 68.
A Tuscaloosa native, Skipper graduated in 1973 from Tuscaloosa County High School where he played drums in the band and sang in the choir. He went on to study at the University of Alabama and sang in the UA Opera. He also served for six years in the Alabama National Guard.
Skipper’s ministry spanned 38 years, during which he served as a bivocational minister of music at Northwood Hills Baptist Church and Northridge Baptist Church, both in Northport, and at Big Sandy Baptist Church and Taylorville Baptist Church, both in Tuscaloosa.
He also spent 12 years as a full-time associate pastor at Five Points Baptist Church in Northport where he led worship. He extended this ministry to visiting the sick in hospitals or homes, helping in the church kitchen, organizing trips and traveling with the senior adults.
Skipper is survived by his wife and high school sweetheart, Sharron; daughters Kristy and Rebecca; and one granddaughter.
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