 When he was 14 years old, Skylstad left home to attend seminary in the United States, and was trained for the priesthood at Pontifical College Josephinum in Worthington, Ohio.Twelve years later, he was ordained a priest of the Diocese of Spokane on May 21, 1960.Skylstad serves as a Roman Catholic Bishop and a Bishop Emeritus of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Spokane, having retired on June 30, 2010.