R.D. (Duke) Neal

On June 2, 2015, R.D. (Duke) Neal, 95, of Edmond, was called to his heavenly home to be with his Lord and Savior. He is survived by his wife Betty of Edmond, son Glen of Edmond, son and daughter in law Tom and Sue Neal of Bethany, daughter Lynn Hughes of Stillwater, grandson Tanner Neal of Mustang, and great grandson Koby Neal of Jones.

Graveside Service will be at 1:00 on Monday, June 8, 2015, at Gracelawn Cemetery with Memorial Service to follow at 2:00 at The First Christian Church Chapel in Edmond.

R.D. was born in Okla. City on Jan. 5, 1920. He was raised on a dairy farm on the corner of Reno and Rockwell where the General Electric plant now stands. He graduated from Putnam City high school and went on to attend Oklahoma A&M. In October of 1942 he married his high school sweetheart, Betty Lou Barnes. They bought a dairy farm northwest of Edmond at the corner of Western and Covell, and he lived there until a year and a half ago when his health required him to move to a nursing home.

In 1950 he had to give up dairying because of bronchial problems caused by the cattle dander and dust from the feed. He then became an employee of Aero Commander, a small aircraft manufacturing industry in Bethany, OK. He continued farming on the side and worked long hours on both jobs. At Aero Commander, which later became Gulf Stream, he worked as a jig builder. When he retired after 30 years, he had worked up to manager of the Quality Control Department. He made many very good and lasting friends while employed there.

He was a gifted builder, and through the years he did much work on the old farm house that was on the dairy they bought, changing the structure of the interior, paneling walls, building beautiful cabinets, and pouring a patio and a sidewalk. In the mid 60’s he and Betty bought a lot on Monkey Island at Grand Lake, and he built a lovely small house in which the family shared many joyful fishing and water skiing vacations.

In lieu of flowers, the family requests memorial contributions be made in R.D.’s name to The First Christian Church of Edmond.  Public viewing will be on Saturday, June 6, 2015, at Matthews Funeral Home from 2-8 p.m. and Sunday from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m.