Eunice Lillian Neely

The heart and soul of our family, Eunice Lillian Schiwart Neely, daughter of Carl Gustav and Laura Knippa Schiwart left us to have a grand reunion with her parents and her beloved brother and sister in law, Curtis and June Schiwart on December 15, 2020 after contracting Covid-19.  Although our grief is overpowering at times, we are consoled  in the fact that her suffering with dementia is over.

Eunice was born on October 12, 1937 at home.  She was the middle child, Curtis being the oldest and Peggy Jean, the baby, was born in 1942.  Eunice grew up in the small farming community of Lockett, Texas.  Her father was a cotton farmer and every family member worked in the fields. Grandma Schiwart would take Eunice as a toddler out to the fields in the morning with a jar of milk and Cheerios and place her under a wagon or a tree while the rest of the family would work the field. She told stories of playing with the barn cats or building stick and dirt houses under that wagon until Grandma Schiwart would take her back to the house to cook lunch.   As she grew, her responsibilities grew: bringing in the eggs, a job she hated, working the churn, cooking, and cleaning.  Mother told stories of dust storms that would blot out the sun and fill their little house with dirt so that they would have to shovel it out, going to the outhouse at night with a lantern because she did not live in a house with indoor plumbing until she married, and weeding the cotton in the blazing Texas heat.  Mother taught us the value of hard work: you  always finished a project or a job no matter how difficult it was to complete, education was the key to unlocking future success and to be true to any promise given or vow taken.

Eunice graduated from Lockett High School in 1956 with dreams of going to college. However, there was no money available for this, so she went to work at a local bank. She married Tom Neely on May 11, 1957. After the ceremony they drove straight through to Baltimore, Maryland to live until Tom's term of army service was finished. They spent twenty-six tumultuous years together, living in Fayetteville and Pocahontas Arkansas, and Amarillo, Vernon, Odell and Iowa Park, Texas.  To this union three children were born:  Laura Lynn Neely Jefferson (1958), Lindley Ann Neely Garner (1963), and Thomas Allen Neely (1969).  They divorced in 1983 because Eunice, ". . .would not take second place to another and damn sure wouldn't be tied for first place" in Tom's life.

In 1988 Eunice moved to Wichita Falls, Texas to be closer to her first grandchild, Colleen, and to fulfill a life-long dream. At 52 years old she courageously enrolled as a part-time student at Midwestern State University in Wichita Falls, Texas, selected a major in Social Work and got a part-time job as secretary in Academic Affairs at MSUTexas. She went on to work full-time in the College of Fine Arts, as the Music secretary from 1991 to 1995, completing her Bachelor of Applied Arts and Sciences degree graduating with honors in May 1992. She was the only family member in her immediate family to obtain a college degree.  Second only to  the births of her children:  her proudest moment.   She was promoted to Administrative Assistant to the College of Fine Arts dean in 1995, a position she held until she retired in 2008. While she was administrative assistant to the Fine Arts dean she also was the secretary for the Theatre and the Mass Communication departments with the help of a part-time student assistant.  When Eunice retired, two other full-time people were hired to do the job she did alone.  In 2001 she was the recipient of the President's Staff Award. 

Soon after retiring, Eunice bravely embarked on another adventure moving to Great Falls, Montana to be closer to her grandchildren Callan and Jadan.   Tommy followed soon after and Laura followed in 2016. She was so excited to have "...all her chicks" close.  She so enjoyed returning to country life, going on adventures with all her children and grandchildren, and watching the birds and wildlife before the dementia forced an assisted-living situation.  

Survivors include her children: Laura (Paul), Lindley and Tom, grandchildren Colleen Wilson Welcher (Rob), Callan Lily Garner, and Jadan Laine Garner, nephews Kevin Schiwart (Jana) and Mark Schiwart (Cindy) , her sister, Peggy Wallo and nieces Angela Fry, Alicia Fry-Taylor and Aricka Fry Anderson.

A celebration of mother's life will be held at a later date in Wichita Falls, Texas. 

Eunice would love it if you gave a  contribution in her name to your local Humane Society or  a cat and/or dog rescue organization of your choice. 

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