She completed doctoral studies in speech pathology at Saint Louis University in 1962, in her late fifties.

[2][3] Skelly began her career in theatre from an early age, and continued through college and afterwards, as an actress, director, and playwright.

She worked at KDKA Radio in Pittsburgh, as a sound technician, writer, and on-air talent.

[5] One of the young actors she mentored at Manistee was James Earl Jones.

She married her first husband, actor Ray King Foust, in 1928;[23] he died in World War II.

[26] She was posthumously inducted into the Association of Veterans Affairs Speech-Language Pathologists (AVASLP) Hall of Fame in 2002.