Mary Neel "Mom"

Services for Mary Beth Neel, 88, of Lubbock will be held at the Ford Memorial Chapel at First Baptist Church, Lubbock at 1:00 p.m. Friday, January 3, 2014, with private interment at Resthaven Memorial Park. Visitation at Resthaven Funeral Home will be held on Thursday, January 2 from 6:00 to 8:00 p.m.

Mary Beth Neel, beloved mother, grandmother, and great-grandmother, passed away at University Medical Center Cardiac Intensive Care Unit in Lubbock after a brief illness on December 30, 2013.

She was born Mary Elizabeth Roddy on March 9, 1925 in Hico, Texas to Harry Leighton Roddy and Ava Marion Alford Roddy, and her family relocated to Tahoka, Texas, where she graduated from Tahoka High School. She attended business college and then during WWII she was employed as a secretary and bookkeeper at Air Force bases in Texas, New Mexico and Louisiana. On a visit to her Grandmother Alford in Hico, Texas, she met Billy Reginald Neel and they were married on October 6, 1946. They lived briefly in Hico, Texas then relocated to Brownfield, Texas. In 1960 they moved to Lubbock, Texas.

They raised their family in Lubbock. Mary Beth worked as a bookkeeper in Lubbock at Mathis Murray Lumber, then at Tuftwick Carpet where she worked full-time until the age of 82. Upon retirement, she moved to an apartment at Ventura Place Retirement Living, where she had an active social life.

She was a member of First Baptist Church, Lubbock for over fifty years, where she taught in the church nursery and sang in the choir for many years.

She is preceded in death by her husband of 46 years, Bill R. Neel, her parents, and two sisters.

She is survived by five devoted children. Her children are Ava Tabb and her husband Eric Tabb, of Midland, TX; Roddy Neel and his wife, Diane of Lubbock; Paul Neel of Lubbock; Joanna Neel Raskin and her husband, Kenny Raskin of Needham, Massachusetts; Becca Henson and her husband, David of Fort Worth. She was the loving grandmother of seven grandchildren and nine great-grandchildren. She is also survived by her dear brother, Leighton Roddy of Fort Worth, Texas and her beloved brother-and-sister-in-law, Jack and Pat Neel of Quitman, Texas, as well as numerous nieces and nephews.

In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the American Diabetes Association.