Del William Neary Obituary

Del William Neary, 88, of Atlantic, passed away at the Allen House on Wednesday, August 7, 2013. He was born on October 5, 1924, to Martin and Helen (Tellifero) Neary in Decatur, NE. He remained there to attend Decatur High School until his graduation in 1940. He grew up with a "Tom Sawyer" childhood, trapping along the banks of the Missouri River.  After high school, Del enlisted in the United States Army in February of 1943 where he was a paratrooper—a member of the 11th Airborne Division—and served in New Guinea, Leyte, Luzon, and the occupation of Japan. He received his discharge from the Army in January of 1946.
On August 17, 1952, at the Thaber Lutheran Church in Wausa, NE, he was wed to Jo Ann Johnson, his wife of 60 years.
 

He attended the University of Northern Colorado, Iowa State University and Drake University and attained his Masters of Education in 1953. He worked as a teacher in Tekamah, NE, Irwin, IA, and, finally settled in Atlantic, Iowa in 1957. He served for 29 years with Atlantic schools and worked the majority of the time as principal of the Atlantic Middle School.  Alongside his service as board member for the YMCA and a principal, he will be remembered for his compassion for youth, being a wonderful family man and his signature wink with a smile.
He was preceded in death by his parents, two brothers, Lonnie Neary and Joe Neary; one sister, Helen Bucy, as well as a brother and sister in infancy.

Del is survived by his wife, Jo Ann; three daughters, Nancy (Doug) Cyr of Lincoln, NE, Shari (Russ) Freeman of Columbus, NE, and Sally (Jay) Bialek of Lawrence, KS; four grandchildren, Brooke (Andy) Kuker, Matthew (Angela) Cyr, Cole Cyr, and Abby Freeman; a great-granddaughter, Avery Kuker, a number of nieces and nephews, a brother-in-law, Earl Bucy, and two sisters-in-law, Janet Johnson and Dona Neary.

 Information taken from the 1991 Decatur Alumni Banquet booklet.   No information available.