John Andrew Neal

John Andrew was born on the family farm south of Springfield on December 6, 1936. His parents were Thomas Leroy and Ethel Johnston Neal. He had one older brother, Clyde. Older sisters were Opal, Naomi, Gert, and Ada. Esther was born later. Baca County was going through the Dust Bowl and John got dust pneumonia. Because of this, the Neal’s moved to Homedale, Idaho where they lived for about ten years. After returning to Baca County, his parents bought a farm in the Edler Community. John grew up on that farm and was expected to milk the cows, work in the garden, and care for the livestock. His sisters said one of the jobs John was responsible for was making sure the cattle had water. He would fill up the water tank but when the cattle came in to drink, he would chase them away so he did not have to fill the tank again. John attended school at Sandy Soil, Edler, and Springfield. He joined the Navy in 1955 and was stationed at the Great Lakes, Jacksonville, Florida, Bremerton, Washington, Honolulu Hawaii and was aboard the aircraft carrier, FDR. After being honorably discharged in 1959, John returned to Springfield where he worked for the city. He met Delores Osteen and they were married in 1963. They were blessed with two sons, Stacey and Jeromy. John and Delores lived in Ft. Collins, San Jose, Calif., Gunnison, and Springfield. In Springfield, John built a restaurant, The Shanty, operated it for several years, and enjoyed making pizza and grilling for the customers. Later they moved to Lamar where John was a mail carrier and Scoutmaster for Troop #218. He was involved with the Elks, and was chosen “Elk of the Year.” After retiring, he and Delores moved to Pueblo West and he helped elderly people with home maintenance and repair and built wheel-chair ramps. John loved his family, good music, his country, and camping, fishing, golfing and gardening in the great outdoors. For many years John and Delores enjoyed camping and boating at Negranda Lake with friends from the Lamar and Eads area. John loved to work with tools and always had a building project to work on. One project he especially enjoyed was one he shared with his father-in-law, Ike Osteen. They rebuilt the Carrizo School located on the Dunlap Ranch and he took care of the old ranch house and yard for many years. John followed the Denver Broncos and Colorado Buffalos football teams and looked forward to their season each fall. His parents and sisters all preceded him in death. He is survived by his wife, Delores, son Stacey, his wife, Hope, and their daughter Callie of Denver, son, Jeromy and his wife Jasmine, and their sons Johnny and Justin of Colorado Springs, brother Clyde and his wife, Ann of Seattle, sisters-in-law Donna and husband Bill Watson and Janet and husband Ken Hostetler of Denver and numerous friends, relatives, nieces and nephews. John passed away on August 27, 2014 at his home in Pueblo West. Funeral service were held in Springfield Colorado at Maltbie Funeral Services at 2:00 PM with interment in the Springfield Cemetery. We cannot bring the old days back, when we were all together. But memories and loving thoughts will live with us forever. It doesn’t take a special day to bring you to our mind For days without a thought of you are very hard to find. A precious one from us is gone – a voice we loved is still. A place is vacant in our lives that we can never fill You meant so much to us – there is nothing we can say. The grief is still within our hearts as we think of you today.