Neal Leon Feldheim's Obituary
Neal Leon Feldheim was born April 20, 1950 and left this earth to be in a more glorious place on Sunday, August 9, 2015. He fought a strong hard battle against multiple myeloma and surpassed the odds with everything that was thrown his way. Family was the most important thing in his life. He provided a blessed and privileged life for his family. Neal was a devoted husband and adored his children. Survived by his loving wife Donna Marie, adoring children Michael Ross and Danielle Nicole. He will be sorely missed by his family and friends. His quick and dry sense of humor, his awesome fighting spirit and his integrity made him a great guy. He achieved and accomplished a great deal in a life …a life that was cut shorter than we would have wanted. His life was blessed, having what is the most important: love for one another and children that are healthy and grew into amazing adults with morals, values and kind hearts. Neal was born in Newark, New Jersey and moved to Plano, Texas twenty four years ago with EDS. He career was primarily in healthcare. He was the Director of Healthcare Alliances for Dell. He completed his master’s degree from Fairleigh Dickenson University in New Jersey. His passions were music, sports and traveling. At the time of his passing he was surrounded with love. He is pain free and reunited with family and friends that left before him. Fighting cancer changes the lives and perspectives you once had. He would want others to be more aware of their daily blessings that are so often taken for granted: to be appreciative of the breaths we take, feel the sun that warms us, the flowers we smell and the beauty we see all around us. For we are truly blessed to experience each moment we are temporarily on this earth. Service will be held on Wednesday, August 12, 2014 at Restland Memorial Chapel at 2:30 pm. If you would like to see the celebration video of my dad, Neal, please use the below link. http://youtu.be/gCMVTpAWuPM Below is tribute my dad, my hero: Today we are here to celebrate the wonderful life of an amazing man that I am fortunate enough to call dad. While my dad’s life may have been cut short at the young age of 65, he lived a very full life. He was always seeking opportunities to gain a new experience which helped define his character. He touched many lives along the way. If my dad was here today he would have wanted us to celebrate the life he had lived. Growing up he absolutely hated seeing my brother or I upset. He would always sing “Big Girls Don’t Cry” by Franki Vali to turn my tears into a smile. While my heart is heavy knowing that I will no longer be able to give him a hug, seek his advice or hear his voice I know he is still with me. He is watching over us in heaven and will forever be my guardian angel. I have happiness knowing his is finally at peace and reunited with his family and friends in Heaven. He is the strongest most courageous person I know. He was given more obstacles than most individuals endure in a lifetime. He had been through so much and I couldn’t be any prouder for the way he handled it all. He had always been my support system and believed in me. It is my turn his motivator! This battle he was fighting helped me understand where I got my motivation and drive. My dad had so much desire to live, fight and overcome this battle, which was inspirational. It was difficult to see someone you love so much go through all of this. While the cancer was the bigger of the two battles my dad was facing, the inability to walk was the most troubling. There was no doubt in my mind that he wouldn’t be able to walk again, while always having the best basketball and tennis game yet. The struggle a person has to go through helps define their strengths. At first I began to question, why now and why you…but deep down I think I know why. God gives some of the biggest challenges for the ones who can handle it and that can overcome the toughest obstacles in life. When I little, he would sit at my side as I would get ready to go to sleep. My nightly ritual was asking him “What I should dream about”. The majority of his suggestions were to dream about meeting with Judy Garland and Mickey Roonie. He always requested I tell him about my wonderful experience meeting them in my dreams. Towards the end of my dad’s life, I was always worried about where his mind could wonder within the four walls of his hospital room. There was many times when I was saying my goodbye for the evening that I would whisper in his ear telling him what I thought he should dream about. My dad and I’s special place was the beach. It was a daily ritual on vacation to take a long walk together. It was during that time that we had some of our most meaningful conversations. When I was little we would walk the shoreline looking for seashells. I was always seeking his approval on the shells I picked up as he had limited pocket space. The esthetics weren’t as important to him as the touch of the seashell. He would pick one smooth sea shell that he would then rub until he was reunited with the ocean again. Our walks evolved from picking up seashells to discussing which houses we would like to someday own on the water. There was a house that always stood out to me. Similar to my relationship with my dad, the house that I admired changed over the years. It wasn’t until we met the owner on the beach that my dad developed a similar liking for what we called my house. My dad always told me to dream big! He made sure to send me the house listing when the house was reduced from 14 million to 11 million! I have always had expensive taste to the point that one of his favorite lines was asking what his favorite part of shopping was- don’t worry it wasn’t shopping, it was returns! One of the most heart wrenching walks on the beach together was when he had told me he had been diagnosed with cancer which was six years ago. He began to ask if I had any questions, but to be perfectly honest I was at a loss of words. I couldn’t and still can’t incision my life without my dad. My dad promised me at that moment that he wasn’t going to be going anywhere anytime soon. Boy was he right- he was going to do everything humanly possible to continue living life. One summer on the last day of our vacation my father and I were taking our customary walk on the beach when we spotted a baby sea turtle struggling to get out to the ocean. The baby sea turtle had a hurt leg. We both knew that if we didn’t do something to help him, the chance of survival was minimal. We began to look around trying to decide what the best course of action was. The beach was desolate- there was not a soul for miles. I happened to glance to my right and spotted a bucket. Of course, my dad being the logical guy, he told me we must call Gumbo Limbo (which is a rehabilitation center for marine animals) to make sure it would be okay to transport the baby turtle there, since it was a federal crime to touch or take baby sea turtles. The women on the phone were excited to hear that we wanted to help this baby sea turtle. When we arrived to the rehabilitation center, we were greeted like celebrities. They offered to give us a tour of the center. My dad had been wanting to view Gumbo Limbo and now having the opportunity to see the facility for free made it that much more enjoyable for him. It was the cutest thing we had ever seen. There were hundreds of turtles that had a string around there bellies as they practiced there swimming strokes. They explained that they had them practice to the point that they regained their muscle and were ready to be released into the ocean. This baby sea turtle will forever have touched my father and I’s life. This sea turtle symbolizes hope, strength and the ability to live a long life. My dad was similar to that baby sea turtle. When I find that special shell, it will be dearer to my heart. My dad had forever changed my outlook on life. I have learned that you can’t sweat the small stuff because at the end of the day, it doesn’t matter. Every day is truly a blessing, and the daily things I take for granted like walking are some of the biggest wishes for others. Everyone deserves the right to be happy; however, an individual has to capture the moment. His love of life and his family were insurmountable, and our love for him will never be waivered. “Those we love don’t go away they walk beside us every day unseen, unheard but always near still loved still missed and very dear.” Funeral arrangements have been entrusted to Restland Funeral Home and Memorial Park, 13005 Greenville Avenue, Dallas, TX 75243. In lieu of flowers contributions can be made to the Multiple Myeloma Society.
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