Daily Oklahoman, The
Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
September 5, 1997, page 2
NEEL Roy L. Neel, M.D.
The family of Roy Lawrence Neel, M.D., is saddened to announce his death, in Oklahoma City mid-March of this year, following a prolonged illness. Interment was at
Resurrection Cemetery in Oklahoma City. Had he lived, Dr. Neel would have been 97 years old today.
Born in Roby, Texas on September 5, 1900, Dr. Neel was the eldest child of Lonnie Monroe Neel and Daisey Exa Cater Neel (later Dailey). In 1905, he and his young family traveled by covered wagon from Texas to Chickasha, Indian Territory (now Oklahoma), where they established their new home. Five years later, when Roy Neel was only 10 years old, his father was lost to an outbreak of smallpox in Chickasha. As an adult, Dr. Neel identified this early family tragedy as having profoundly impacted his own life, and attributed to its influence a significant portion of his decision ultimately to enter the field of medicine.
Having left Chickasha public schools early in order to pursue an Oklahoma City career in the wholesale grocery business, Roy Neel later returned to his secondary education, graduating from Oklahoma City Central High School in 1932. After next earning his Bachelor of Science degree in Medicine from the University of Oklahoma, he was accepted for enrollment at the University of Oklahoma College of Medicine, where he graduated with the Doctor of Medicine degree in 1938, during the Great Depressi on. Subsequently Dr. Neel completed his Rotating Internship at University Hospital in Oklahoma City, followed by a Preceptorship in Ophthalmology-Otolaryngology.
Entering the Army during World War II, Dr. Neel was assigned to the Army Air Corps, in which he served for nearly five years as Flight Surgeon. By the time he completed his military service in February 1947, he had attained the rank of Major, and had been decorated with both the American Theatre Ribbon and the World War II Victory Medal. During the three ensuing years, he served with the Veterans Administration in Oklahoma City.
In 1950, Dr. Neel undertook additional advanced medical training in the specialty of Radiology, first at the University of Texas Medical Branch in Galveston (1950-51), then at the University of Chicago Clinics (1951-53). He earned Board Certification from the American Board of Radiology in 1953, and that same year he returned to Oklahoma City where, during 1954, he served as Radiologist at St. Anthony Hospital. His Oklahoma City medical practice also included hospital staff appointments at both Veterans Administration Hospital and University Hospital, and he carried the appointment of Assistant Professor in Radiology at the University of Oklahoma College of Medicine.
Additionally, Dr. Neel provided Radiology consultation to a number of area community hospitals including those in Pauls Valley, Elk City and El Reno. He was a member of the Oklahoma County Medical Society, the Oklahoma State Medical Association, the American College of Radiology, and the American Medical Association. Following his retirement in 1969, he served as Assistant Professor Emeritus of Radiological Sciences at the University of Oklahoma Medical Center.
An accomplished traveler, Dr. Neel toured Europe, Africa, and the Orient during his early retirement years, and was particularly well-versed in travel to Mexico. His life-long commitment to learning was revealed in his breadth of experience, and in his informed and penetrating conversation. His Forest Park home of the past 40 years, situated in a wooded setting of natural beauty, reflected his knowledgeable taste and represented for him an especially rewarding sense of accomplishment. An orderly and deeply responsible gentleman, Dr. Neel maintained his home and his life in an exemplary manner.
His family proudly remembers Dr. Neel as a highly intelligent and dedicated individual whose life embodied the values of education, genuineness, loyalty, initiative, self-sufficiency and honesty. He always sought to do his part to help make this world a better place, and in that endeavor he brought to bear his formidable intellect, perseverance, and focused thought. He was a man of courage and conviction, always seeking to pursue a course of action that was true to his own conscience. He embrace d fully his Aesculapian oath as a physician, and practiced with the belief that his profession served a high calling.
While his lifetime spanned the great technological, political and social revolutions of this century, Dr. Neel adhered consistently to his own inner compass which was characterized by basic decency and fairness, and was grounded in respect for the inner qualities of his fellow human beings. Having achieved significant personal goals by rising to the notable challenges inherent in this tumultuous twentieth century, Dr. Neel knew the importance of the values that sustained him. He was a model of personal integrity.
In addition to his parents, Dr. Neel was preceded in death by his two brothers. He is survived by his loving sister, Lola Dailey Morgan (Mrs. Melvin L. Morgan) of Oklahoma City; by three nieces and four nephews, and by many great-nieces and great-nephews. He also is survived by the care he provided his patients, by his friends and colleagues, by the fine memories he created and left with us, and by his good works. Condolences for the family may be directed to Mrs. Morgan at PO Box 721205, Oklahoma City, Ok. 73172-1205.
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