James McNeil

James Elvin McNeil passed away peacefully August16, 2014 at Harbor Lakes Nursing Home where he resided for 11 days.

Jim was born in Newton County MS. in 1940 and resided there until his family relocated to Ft. Worth in 1954 where he attended Technical High School and was a standout athlete in Basketball and known by his friends simply as “Mississippi”.

He turned down multiple Athletic Scholarship offers and married his wife of 56 years just two weeks after graduation.

Together he and his wife lived in Arkansas, Mississippi, California & New Mexico where he worked as an Iron Worker then as a Long Haul Truck Driver in later years.

While living in Southern California he developed a love and passion of the desert spending most winter weekends there with friends and family riding the dunes in his self made custom buggy.

He and his wife returned to Ft. Worth in 1999 and retired in a Lakehouse on Granbury Lake in 2006 where he could pursue his love for fishing.

He was preceded in death by is parents, Elvin & Lorene McNeil, one sister, Dorothy Estes and two daughters, Kathy McNeil & Kelly Bashaw.

He is survived by his wife Darlene McNeil of Granbury, one sister, Inez McVey of Rendon, Tx. Two Children, Danna McGill of Redmond, Wa. & Jim McNeil of Dallas, Tx. Eleven Grandchildren and Ten Great Grandchildren.

A celebration of Jim’s life will be held Thanksgiving Weekend in the California Desert.