Nine Generations

Memorial services for Byron H. McNeil, former Lufkin City Commissioner and long time community leader were held in the Gipson Funeral Home Chapel with burial in the Garden of Memories Memorial Park.

Mr. McNeil was the son of Claude McNeil and Katie Garrison Popp. Along with his grandparents, Bowden and Ida Garrison, he came to East Texas in a railroad boxcar when he was five years old, his family wanting to take advantage of the rich East Texas agricultural land. As a youth, he grew up in Nacogdoches, graduating from Nacogdoches High School in 1932. He served 3 l/2 years in the U.S. Army as staff sergeant. After the war he returned to Lufkin and along with his wife, Priscilla Elizabeth McNeil, build a house at 306 Pershing Avenue where he resided until his death.

Mr. McNeil served as a Lufkin city commissioner for five years, elected to two terms. While he was a commissioner the Commission constructed the Dozier Street underpass, build a new sewage treatment plant, and the City Hall fire station. He was one of the first public officials to attempt to bridge the gap between the white and black communities, running on a platform in 1970 of being for "all of Lufkin regardless of race, creed or color."

He had a long business and civic career in Angelina Co. He was 30 years in the clothing business, working at Abrams Dept. Store, Hemphill-Wells and Clark-Ayers. For seven years, he owned and operated Oaks Man's Wear on Main St. For 16 years he was an administrator of local nursing homes. He was also a teacher and supervisor at Piney Wood Business College. He was a longtime member of the First Baptist Church where he served as chairman of the Board of Usher, as superintendent of Dept. 5 Sunday School and as a teacher of the Fellowship Sunday School Class. Among his many civic activities, he was secretary of the Lions Club, first vice president of the Chamber of Commerce, secretary of the Lufkin Homebuilders Assn and a member and officer of the Knights of Pythias.

Survivors: wife of 50 years, Elizabeth McNeil; brother, Medford McNeil; daughter, Judy McNeil;son, Larry McNeil; son and daughter-in-law, Gary and Ann McNeil; daughter and son-in-law, Mary Jayne and Joe Pumphrey; 7 grandchildren, Greg and Jill Phelps, Joshua and Rebekah McNeil, Sam and Ben McNeil and Kate Pumphrey, numerous nieces and nephews.⁵

Priscilla Elizabeth Modisette McNeil, 92, passed away Saturday, May 4, 2013 in Dallas Texas. A public school teacher in Angelina County for over thirty years, Elizabeth taught thousands of students the joy of reading and encouraged many to take up the teaching career. She and her husband, Byron McNeil, reared many family members, including their children, grandchildren, nieces, nephews and other relatives. She was a member of Lufkin's First Baptist Church for over 70 years, and a member of Wilshire Baptist Church, Dallas, since 2009.

Services will be held at The Chapel of Lufkin's First Baptist Church.

Elizabeth was born August 29, 1920 in the home of her parents, Augusta (Hawkins) and David Hampton Modisette in the Lala Hill Community of southern Angelina County. She was the third of four sisters, and had one brother.

Her family moved to Huntington during the Depression and she later attended Huntington High School and played basketball for the Red Devilettes. Her parents later moved to Lufkin where she graduated from Lufkin High School. In 1938, she enrolled in college at Stephen F. Austin State Teachers' College in Nacogdoches, where she graduated with a Bachelor of Science degree in August 1941. She earned her Master of Education degree from SFA State College in August 1956. Her love of teaching was inspired by her father, Dave Modisette, a pioneer Angelina County educator, and by the academic discipline of teaching young people to appreciate a story and having the desire to read. On Christmas Day, 1941, less than three weeks after Pearl Harbor, she married Byron McNeil whom she had met at Abrams clothing store where he worked; they celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary in 1991. While Mac went to the Army, Elizabeth began her first teaching job in Central. During the war, she moved to Mineral Wells where Mac was stationed. After the war, Lib and Mac moved to Lufkin and built their home on Pershing Avenue. She continued her teaching career in Lufkin, serving in various elementary schools, including Central and Slack. She retired after 38 years of service. Her most proud professional accomplishment was the development of individualized reading instruction that focused on unlocking the reading zeal of each student. Despite some opposition from District administrators, her success became recognized and a model for other reading teachers. She was equally proud of her family who became teachers, including Sharon Stracener and Jill Haltom.

Alongside her professional career, Elizabeth devoted herself to rearing her children, grandchildren and other family members. She taught a love of learning and the importance of gaining your college education, and she instilled a practical and positive Christianity that believed in both respect of all people and the confidence that you were a child of God. She also loved to play dominoes, and won the forty-two adult championship one year at First Baptist Church. She spent many joyous times playing dominoes with her family and friends, including a game on her 92nd birthday. In 2001, she moved to Dallas to be close to her daughter, Mary Jayne McNeil, and her family. In 2011, she moved to Sunrise at Hillcrest, where she lived until she passed. Her caregivers remarked that she brought them kindness and mercy, and they loved her sweetness and good nature.

She is preceded in death by her husband, Byron McNeil; sisters, Ruby Hicks and Dennie Culbertson; brother, Van Modisette; and great-grandson, Camden Haltom.

Survivors include: Sister, Bernice Maberry; Children, Judy McNeil; Larry McNeil and Anne Bartley; Gary and Ann McNeil; and Mary Jayne McNeil. Grandchildren: Greg and Josie Phelps; Jill and James Haltom; Joshua McNeil; Rebekah and Mandy McNeil; Cybele Cirie; Amanda Schaer; Andrea Cirie; Sam McNeil; Ben McNeil; Kate Pumphrey; and William Pumphrey; and numerous nieces, nephews and other relatives and friends.⁴