J. David Neal

J David Neal, 73, of Naperville, IL, passed away unexpectedly on October 23, 2023 in Tucson, AZ. He was born on January 3, 1950 in Bridgeport, CT. Dave is survived by his beloved wife, Pam, and their children Scott (Jen) Neal, Kristina (Ryan) Wilson, sister Nancy (Don) Ross and 5 grandkids (Abby, Kim, Evan, Emily and Ashley).  He was predeceased by his father John Edwin Neal, his mother Della Hipkins Neal, sister Susan May and grandparents George Duncan Neal, Carrie Swaim Neal, William Wesley Hipkins and Kate Anna Tarbet Hipkins.

Dave graduated with a degree in engineering from Bradley University, where he also played on the last Bradley football team, ran track and was on the wrestling team. He was a member of Theta Xi Fraternity and met his beloved wife, Pam, during college. He worked at GE and several software companies including Hewlett Packard, Clear Communication and Lex Electronics. He had a second career as a community service officer for the City of Naperville where he enjoyed helping people in the community as well as volunteering in the elementary schools.

He was an avid reader, like his mother, reading entire series multiple times by re-reading the series when a new edition came out. He also enjoyed watching movies and TV series such as Star Trek and Big Bang Theory. He related to the character of Sheldon and his favorite scene was when Penny gave Sheldon a napkin that Leonard Nemoy used.

He played drums in a band for several years after college and continued playing into retirement with electric drums. He got his nickname 'Crazy Dave' from falling backwards off the stage after the final song, hooking his feet under the drums and the all come crashing down.  The band said 'and there goes Crazy Dave.'

He enjoyed the outdoors and spent several years as a scout leader. He'd tell the story of the boys laughing at him naming the spatula 'Tina' aka Tina Turner. Growing up he went wilderness camping and canoeing in the boundary waters with his family.  He spent many summers enjoying boating and especially getting up early in the morning to be the first one on the lake to waterski when 'it's like glass.' More recently he enjoyed visit several National Parks such as Sequoia, Kings Canyon, Yosemite and Grand Canyon.

He enjoyed spending the winters in Tucson, AZ and called the area 'his healing mountains.' He enjoyed cars and driving, no matter how far, to visit his children, grandchildren and sister.  Going for a 'cruise' in the SuperBee was a great evening for him and he often took it to car shows. He also enjoyed target shooting and was an ham radio operator.

Spreading joy was a goal of his and he often told 'dad' jokes to almost everyone he encountered. So in his honor, please tell a joke to make a friend laugh or crack a smile.