John Harold Skillman, who served as a missionary and educator in Japan for two decades, died at the age of 80 due to complications from Alzheimer's disease in Silver Spring, Md., on May 20, his family said.
Skillman learned Japanese in the U.S. Army during World War II and in 1951 was sent to Tokyo as a United Methodist missionary serving Harajuku Church.
He received his Ph.D. from Syracuse University and served as a professor of comparative education at Aoyama Gakuin University in Tokyo for 21 years until 1972, when he returned to the United States. He also contributed to English publications by the Japan Council of Churches.
Skillman was also the Asia executive for the Council on International Educational Exchange in New York from 1972 to 1994 and contributed to the development of exchange programs in China and Vietnam.
Skillman was born in Norwich, N.Y.
He had five children and eight grandchildren.
A celebration of his life will be held at Riderwood in Silver Spring on June 21, to be followed by a private burial the following week.
A memorial service is to be held in Tokyo at Harajuku Church at a date yet to be decided.
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