John Taylor McNeill, Jr 1913-1995
A Thumbnail Biography by David C. Procuniar
All Rights Reserved Last updated: 31 Aug 2001
John Taylor McNeill, Jr; son of John Taylor McNeill (1871-1943) & Gertrude Procuniar (1877-1972); John was born on 31 Dec 1913 in Chicago, Illinois, died on 04 Sep 1995 in Bayonet Point, Florida. John married LaVera Marie Milot on 04 Mar 1943 in Chicago, Illinois. LaVera was born on 19 Oct 1918 in Columbus, Ohio. Still living in 1995.
Children:
Sharon Lee McNeill 1944 in Chicago, Illinois, married
Richard Charles Miller on 27 Jul 1963 in Northbrook, Illinois.
Children:
Sandra Lee Miller 23 Jul 1965 in DesPlaines, Illinios
One child: Samantha Miller
Lisa Ann Miller 23 Jul 1965, married Curtis Alan Bachelor
on 05 Jun 1984 in Fort Paine, Alabama
One child: Cody Alan Bachelor 1991
Michael Robert McNeill 1948 in Chicago, Illinois
Other Sources:
David C Procuniar 3598 Harry Truman Drive, Beavercreek, Ohio 45432
Mrs. LaVera Marie Milot McNeill (John's loving wife)
First Reformed Church of Hagerstown Maryland church records on LDS micro-film.
Below a letter LaVera sent me on November 10, 1995 typed exactly as LaVera typed it ....
November 10, 1995
Dear David:
I shall try to give you a biography of the John I knew.
John Taylor McNeill, Jr. (nickname “Curly”) Richard Hauschild used to call him that.
BORN: December 31, 1913, Chicago.
PARENTS: Gertrude Procunier – Housewife
John Taylor McNeill, Sr., - Artist
SIBLINGS: Hobie, Ray, Agnes, Dorothy and Berenice
When John would reminisce about his boyhood, he always talked a lot about his cousins and the family outings with Richard’s family. Granny Mac’s house was always full of friends and family. Every Saturday night the family gathered to play cards (poker). It was a happy time. He laughed about the times he played in Lincoln Park and how he would stand in the soup kitchen lines during the depression so he wouldn’t have to take the time to go home for lunch and it was fun!
John graduated from Senn High School in 1933. His father had a stroke when he was around forty, and would never work again. Jobs were scarce then and he had many until he got a job with Curtis Candy Company in the accounting department. This is where we met and fell in love in 1941.
John was drafted into the Army in August of 1942 after trying to join the Navy. His eyes were too bad they said. The Army didn’t seem to mind. He was stationed in Cheyenne, Wyoming. We were married March 4, 1943 when he was home on leave. I visited John in July and in October he came home for his dad’s funeral. On his return to Wyoming, he was sent overseas. Our daughter was born around the time of the Normandy Invasion. She was eighteen months old when he came home at the end of the war from Germany in 1945.
He got his old job back with Curtis Candy Comp0any, and was soon transferred to the purchasing department. He stayed with them thirty-five years altogether.
Lots happened in those thirty-five years. Mike, our son, was born December 16, 1948 while we were living in an apartment at Montrose and Western Avenue. We left there and moved to our first home in Edison Park and from there to Northbrook, where Sharon and Mike graduated from high school.
John left Curtis Candy Company and went to work for Dr. Scholls. Sharon, our daughter, married Richard Miller, and in 1965 John became a grandfather of twin girls – Sandra and Lisa!
Mike, our son, went to Drake University and then to the Chicago Art Institute.
John’s brother, Ray and his mother came to live with us. Ray had lost a leg because of a blood clot. His mother died in October of 1972. She was 95. John had a heart attack. Sharon, Richard and the girls moved to Clearwater, Florida.
John retired from Keebler Cookie Company in 1979. Mike went to Greece and stayed for three years. We bought a home in Beacon Woods in Bayonet Point, Florida. Ray came with us. In 1984, Lisa, our granddaughter, married Curtis Bachelor. Dorothy, John’s sister, died in Florida. In 1980, Ray died of heart failure. Agnes died of a brain tumor in 1984. Hobie lost both legs due to diabetes and died in 1986. In 1991 Lisa and Curtis and a con, Cody, and in 1994 Sandra had a baby girl, Samantha. John was now a great grandfather!
In all this time John never missed a day of golf! He loved it! In 1991 he had to give up golf. He developed peripheral neuropathy due to diabetes. That was a very sad day!
He did get to celebrate our 50th wedding anniversary on March 4, 1993. Our whole family was there with us.
In September, 1994, John had a stroke and from there on out, it was all down hill; kidney failure and two more strokes, until finally, he just gave up. He passed away the morning of September 4, 1995, Labor Day. He leaves one sister, Berenice Colen.
My only regret was that he didn’t get to see his great granddaughter, Samantha. He was so looking forward to it. Mike came from Illinois and Sharon, Sandra, Lisa, Cody and Samantha came from North Carolina to be with him.
We shall miss him!
His Loving Wife,
LaVera Marie Milot McNeill
P.S. There was an error made on John’s obituary. Instead of Berenice, they typed Beatrice. Sorry Berenice!
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