J. Philip Neal passed away on June 10, 2015 at the age of 96. A native of Philadelphia, he graduated from Haverford College in 1941 and worked for the Consumer Cooperative Movement and the Johnson O’Connor Research Foundation. During World War II, he did work of national importance in the Civilian Public Service, and later developed a business producing hand-framed argyles. In 1951, he moved to Celo Community, NC and was employed with the Vaughan Corporation, and later with the Feldspar Corporation, both in Spruce Pine, NC. In 1964, he joined the staff of the NC State University Minerals Research Laboratory in Asheville, NC, from which he retired in 1985. He interrupted his retirement in 1988 to develop a paper mill waste cleaning process. A longtime member of the Religious Society of Friends (Quaker), he was one of the founders of Asheville Friends Meeting. In addition to his parents, Phil was preceded in death by his wife of 42 years, Margaret “Peg” Calbeck Neal (1996) and a daughter, Emily Neal (2007). He is survived by his daughter, Edna Neal Collins, her husband Jim, two grandsons, and one great-granddaughter.
John Philip (“Phil”) Neal
1936