Gloria Jean McNeill

Gloria Jean “GJ” McNeill, 83 passed away on Thursday March 27th, 2025.Gloria was born on Nov. 26th, 1941 to the late Arthur and Ruth “Bellas” Plona in Duryea, Pennsylvania. She was proud to serve for the U.S. Army in the Women’s Army Corp and met her husband, Robert Paul McNeill while stationed in Washington, D.C. They resided in Salem, Massachusetts afterwards where she started her ceramic business, eventually relocating to Greensboro in 2001.

Mrs. McNeill was preceded in death by her husband, Robert Paul McNeill, her sisters Geraldine McAndrew and Ruth Wyshock, and her brothers Barry, James, and Johnny Plona.

She is survived by her brother Arthur Plona of Scranton, Pennsylvania; her daughter Maureen Ellen Lonergan and her husband David Francis Lonergan; her son Robert Michael McNeill and his wife Catherine Louise McNeill; her grandchildren Monika Mentz, Corinna Torres, Erica Maureen Gonzalez and her husband Jonathan Gonzalez, Gloria Michelle Saffari and her husband Matthew Saffari, Harrison Robert McNeill and Michael Robert McNeill; and her great-grandchildren Selena Saffari, Georgina Saffari, Maverick Saffari and Killian Gonzalez. Also surviving are several nieces, nephews, and friends of the family.

She will be most remembered by being the “Dancing Queen”, her avid gardening, her passion for ceramics, selfless generosity, and making sure her family was taken care of, always lighting up the room whenever she walked in.

A Memorial mass will be celebrated on Thursday, April 10, 2025 at 11am at Saint Pius X Catholic Church, 2210 N Elm Street, Greensboro, NC 27408, immediately followed by a reception to share memories and honor the beautiful life of Gloria Jean McNeill.

In lieu of flowers, please share your favorite memories and stories of Gloria to this page and to the family.

Hanes-Lineberry Sedgefield Chapel is honored to serve the McNeill family.