Lola Mcneill

On Sunday, March 7, 2021, Lola June Wallis McNeill, who loved without judgment, passed away at the age of 94 years.

Lola was born on June 5, 1926, in the home on Folsom in St. Louis, Missouri, to Harry Solon Wallis and Lillie Mae Williams Wallis. A graduate of Roosevelt High School in June 1944, while World War II was still underway, she was immediately hired by the Bemis Brothers Bag Company as bookkeeper for their Paper Specialty Plant. That plant contributed to the allied war efforts by providing waterproof liners for military supply boxes shipped over-seas. The government contracted for an additional material which was a private military product, plastic saran, used in the making of atomic bombs.

At war’s end, she married her childhood sweetheart, Clifton Thomas McNeill, in Tower Grove Baptist Church, St. Louis, Missouri, February 16, 1946 after he returned from military service in Europe. They were married until his death in October 1977. They raised two children, Constance and Thomas on a family farm in the Salem, Missouri, area.

With the attitude of a modern woman and the spirit of a pioneer woman, Lola both blazed trails and created what she needed out of whatever she had at hand. She worked outside the home all of her adult life utilizing her head for business and management skills as well as being a farm wife doing daily chores caring for livestock and crops. She made up her own mind about whatever confronted her and was never hesitant to call out an inconsistency or injustice if she felt it needed righting. It is only fitting that you hear her own words:

“I have had such a wonderful life. I’ve lived in cities, suburbs, small town and on a farm. I love animals and am as plain as a person can be. I have never been stylish or impressed by celebrities, and I would not trade places with anyone in the world. I accepted Jesus as my Savior when I was eight because I wanted to go to Heaven rather than Hell. As I grew spiritually, I made him Lord of my life and have tried to be his servant, ministering to needs and sharing his love and his word. He blesses me every day and gives me peace. I am so unworthy and wonder, why me?”

Lola was preceded in death by her parents, her brothers, a nephew, a niece and all her lifelong friends. She is survived by her daughter Connie, her son Tom ,and her daughter by choice Luda. Additionally, her beloved niece Darlene and husband Bill Skaggs, her great niece Lisa and husband Kevin Hallan and their three children, Ben, Emmy and Cole. She is survived by other family members including a niece, great nieces and nephews, a sister-in-law, cousins and other distant relatives.

A Celebration of Life Service is being planned for late April at Second Baptist Church, Liberty, Missouri, and an internment of ashes at the family cemetery outside Salem, Missouri, as COVID guidelines permit. Monetary donations should be given to Second Baptist Church, 300 E. Kansas, Liberty MO in lieu of flowers. If you truly want to honor her legacy, have a bowl or two of ice cream with your loved ones. That was her favorite pastime. The flavor is your choice.

A Celebration of Life Service is being planned for late April at Second Baptist Church, Liberty, Missouri, and an internment of ashes at the family cemetery outside Salem, Missouri, as COVID guidelines permit. Monetary donations should be given to Second Baptist Church, 300 E. Kansas, Liberty MO in lieu of flowers. If you truly want to honor her legacy, have a bowl or two of ice cream with your loved ones. That was her favorite pastime. The flavor is your choice.