Wednesday, October 14, 2015 The Nugget Newspaper, Sisters, Oregon
29
Obituaries (continued from page 25)
Mary Dement-Smith
James Richard Neal
November 20, 1934 – October 5, 2015
James (Gentleman Jim)
Richard Neal passed away
on Monday, October 5, at St.
Charles Hospital in Bend.
Jim had struggled with
health issues for two years
and passed away knowing
he was loved by his family.
Jim was born in Poplar
Bluff, Missouri, to Thomas
Marion Neal and Christine
Newkirk Neal on November
20, 1934. During the Great
Depression and World War
II, Thomas Neal served
overseas in the U.S. Army.
Christine moved the family
to Jackson Hole, Wyoming,
and then to Burns, Oregon,
where she worked as a
grade-school teacher.
While Jim lived in Burns,
he met Clint Purdy, one of
the Purdy family. The Purdys
operated a 15,000-acre beef
and hay ranch. Jim spent
many hours of many years
learning and working on the
ranch. The Purdys and Jim
were close lifetime friends.
After high school gradu-
ation, Jim joined the U.S.
Air Force with the hopes of
becoming a pilot, and the
Air Force trained him to be a
military air traffic controller.
In the military, the job was
to keep the planes close to
each other for combat. After
his tour of duty with the Air
Force, Jim became an air
traffic controller at the Los
Angeles Air Traffic Control
Center. Jim was the young-
est man to hold the position
of supervisor and worked
with the FAA to develop
protocols and procedures.
This job required that he
keep the planes separated
and get the planes safely on
the ground.
Jim loved hunting, fish-
ing, and horseback riding.
His big black mare, Cricket,
was his best hunting part-
ner. Jim and Cricket rode
in many Sisters Rodeo
and Christmas parades. He
was honored to ride in the
first Sisters High School
Homecoming Parade and
activities. One year he car-
ried the All-Around Cowboy
Saddle at the Sisters Rodeo.
In 1979, Jim joined the
Sisters Rodeo Association
and served as a board mem-
ber for eight years. Jim
dedicated many, many hours
of work to the corrals and
chutes, and the rodeos.
He and Becki were Grand
Marshals of the 1999 Sisters
Rodeo.
Jim and Becki Wood
met in 1979 and agreed that
it was love at first sight.
They were together for 36
years. In 1980, they bought
five acres of property east
of Sisters and built their
home. Within a few years,
Jim built a barn and shop.
Seemed there wasn’t any-
thing Jim couldn’t fix or
build. His wife and neigh-
bors appreciated his help
with projects. In 2008, their
home burned to the ground.
With incredible help of
friends, a new house was
built.
There is little of the U.S.
that Jim and Becki did not
explore. They loved to travel
and explore all the back
roads. Their curiosity made
for some good stories.
Jim is survived by his
wife Becki; son Kirt Neal
and his wife Ann Marie;
sisters Tommie McCoy and
Gerry Nodland. Nephews
Dan McCoy and David
McCoy will miss their
Uncle Jim. His many nieces,
nephews, and other fam-
ily loved his stories, burnt
bacon and biscuits and
gravy.
A Celebration of Life
gathering will be Saturday,
November 14, at 2 p.m. at
the Sisters Rodeo Grounds.
In lieu of flowers, the fam-
ily requests donations to the
Sisters Rodeo Association
Scholarship Fund, P.O. Box
1018, Sisters, Oregon 97759
or Bethlehem Inn, 3705
N. Hwy. 97, Bend, Oregon
97701.
Mary was born December
12, 1936 in Scio, Oregon to
Mary Ethel Wyman and Wal-
ter Herman Wyman.
She married Sherley
Douglas Dement May 18,
1957; married Dean Gard-
ner Smith July 10, 1982. She
started volunteering for the
Eugene School District in
1966 and was hired on later
that year as a teacher’s aide.
She worked for the school
district until she retired in
1990.
Her hobbies included:
oil painting, photography,
artwork, quilting and sew-
ing, woodworking, and bird-
watching. She started design-
ing quilt patterns in 2000.
She and Dean loved traveling
to trade shows selling their
patterns.
She and Dean started
building a log home in the
Sisters/Bend area in 1990.
She was responsible for mak-
ing many of the decorative
Rural & Residential Property Sales
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541-593-4277
431 E. Cascade Ave., Sisters
Each offi ce is independently owned and operated.
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accents and built the cabinets
throughout the house. They
moved into the log home in
1997, where she lived till her
passing on May 8, 2015.
She is survived by her
brother Edwin Wyman
of Livermore, California;
daughter Deanne Dement of
Sisters; sons Brian Dement
of Bend and Dana Dement
of Springfield; and four
grandchildren.
She will be missed
greatly by her loved ones and
friends. The family will be
arranging a memorial for her
in the summer of 2016.
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