NEAL, Evalee

Kingman Daily Miner, Kingman, AZ - Published on July 18, 2012 - A private memorial service for Evalee Neal is slated for 10 a.m., July 19, 2012, at Praise Chapel with Pastor Alex Wilson officiating. Interment will follow at Mountain View Cemetery. Evalee was born the second child of Vernon and Ruby Husk on Aug. 6, 1927, in Phoenix. After her mom remarried Glen Kohl she spent a lot of her summer days as a youth at Kohl's ranch with her grandparents, Necia and Lew Kohl, in Payson, Ariz. The memories of working with her grandparents, cooking and cleaning up after 20 to 30 people daily, were some of the best memories Evalee carried with her throughout her lifetime. Evalee would travel up to Kingman with her two children to visit their grandparents on a ranch north of Kingman. On one of her visits she met John L. Neal, who was working there the day she came to visit. Sometime later, John L. called Evalee while she was working at her office in Phoenix and asked her how she was at making lunches. The two were married in 1965, and were prominent members of the ranching community until John L.'s untimely death in 1993. Throughout her years with John L, she cooked many meals on a wood cook stove by the light of a kerosene lantern. Evalee fed not only the hired help, but anyone stopping by just for a visit. It was John and Evalee's tradition that everyone got fed whether they were hungry or not! Evalee had always enjoyed attending local Unity Churches in the Phoenix area before moving to Kingman. She became a licensed Unity teacher and started teaching at the local Unity Church of Kingman from 1997 to 2001. Charity work was a priority of the church and Evalee was very supportive of the efforts of the church and its members. She moved into town from the ranch in May 1998 to be closer to her church and small business, as she opened up the Sand Dollar Book Store where Unity books and literature were available. Evalee also taught Unity classes in the book store while she owned it. Evalee leaves behind her two sons, Steven (Karen) Sutherland of Dahlonega, Ga., and John T (Vonda) Neal of Kingman; daughter, Necia Watkins; two stepchildren; Kelli (Gene) Roberts of Atwater, Calif., and Leland Neal of Kingman. She is also survived by one niece, 15 grandchildren and 11 great-grandchildren. Evalee was preceded in death by her parents, Vernon and Ruby Husk; husband John L. Neal; older brother, Lyle Husk; and a great-grandchild, Magnolia Grace Watkins.