Ms. Lillie W Neal's Obituary
LaVey ‘Lillie’ Walker Neal was born May 15, 1932 in Amherst, Texas as the twelfth of fourteen children born to Carl and Laura Walker. Her older siblings, with three separate first names in mind, named her ‘Lillie Leona LaVey’. Most of her life she was known as LaVey to friends and family, and in her later years she was known as Lillie to her new friends. She passed away January 3, 2021 in her assisted living apartment a few hours after a fun telephone visit reminiscing with her daughter Monya.
LaVey was known for her quick wit, joking, organization, intelligence, and her incredible memory. She excelled as a student, attending school in Littlefield, Texas and at Texas Tech University in Lubbock, Texas. She started working at the age of twelve. During her high school years, she went to class, taught twirling, went to work at the hospital until eleven at night, and then went home to do homework. Throughout her life she worked diligently outside her home as well as in her home. In 1951 she married Charles Mills. In 1959 she married J.E. Neal, her loving husband of 60 years, who adopted her daughter Monya. LaVey’s loving, caring heart was consistently generous to others. She often helped family and contributed to the Salvation Army, as she realized and genuinely understood the needs of others.
LaVey’s interest in Texas and U.S. history grew into her own genealogy research and study of antiques. After retiring from her job as an employment interviewer for Texas Employment Commission, LaVey and J.E. enjoyed a business buying and selling antiques.
LaVey often referred to herself as a “home body”. Her love of home and family were definitely at the core of her being. Time with her grandson Neal was one of her greatest joys. She could spend many hours at home studying, organizing, researching, reading, cleaning, cooking, and decorating. Family often came to stay with J.E. and LaVey, drinking coffee, visiting, and looking at the family albums and the genealogy information that LaVey maintained for both the Walker and Neal families. She remembered life events with vivid and lively detail. She related those events as an outstanding storyteller, entertaining the family with amazing details of her own upbringing, the childhood of her daughter Monya, and her enjoyment as a grandparent to Neal. Her natural ability to design was reflected in her homes, beautifully decorated and comfortable. LaVey’s design continued to be enjoyed in the chandeliers she hung in her homes, even in her assisted living apartment. Those chandeliers are a reminder of who she was: a work of art, not through an easy life, but through a life lived well with strength and love.
She is survived by her daughter Monya and son-in-law John, her grandson Neal, his wife Rachael and their child Ava Grace, LaVey’s great-granddaughter.
LaVey will be laid to rest with her husband J.E. at the Rolling Oaks Memorial Center in Coppell, Texas. In LaVey’s memory, donations can be made to the Salvation Army.
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