Obituary of Donald E. Neville

     Donald Eugene Neville was born on October 28, 1935 in St. Francis, KS, the first of two children born to Earl Neville and Glenna (Wiggins) Neville.  Don passed away at the age of 83 on Sunday, August 18, 2019 at St. Anthony Hospital in Lakewood, CO.

     Don attended a one-room schoolhouse in rural Kansas outside St. Francis, until in 1949 the family moved to Fort Morgan, CO and transitioned from strictly farming to also raising cattle and running a small dairy.  He arose every morning before school to milk cows at 5:00 A.M.

     After graduation from Fort Morgan High School in 1953, Don began employment at the local Safeway and served in the National Guard until the mid-sixties.

     Don married his sweetheart whom he dated since high school, Nancy Loose, on June 3, 1956.  To this union, one son, Brent, was born on February 15, 1958.  The sudden loss of Don’s own father only months after Brent was born affected him greatly.

     The family moved to Wray, CO in 1966 when Don became assistant store manager of the local Safeway.  There, with his son Brent, he enjoyed stream fishing, and building and flying gasoline engine-powered model planes.

     They relocated again in 1972 to Sidney, NE when Don became manager of the store there.  With friendliness and hard work, he took a store with a questionable future and increased business to the point that Safeway built a new 40,000 sq. foot store next to the old one.

     In November 1982, Nancy and Don made their final move to Burlington, CO, where he again became the local Safeway store manager, until a heart attack and triple bypass in July 1999 brought about his retirement after 46 years with the company.

     Don was a “people person”, who would rather be on the sales floor meeting customers and handing out balloons to their children than sitting isolated in the office.  After retirement, he said the only thing he missed was the people.

     Don suffered significantly diminished hearing from birth, a defect likely resulting from his mother’s Rubella while pregnant.  He finally accepted wearing hearing aids in his thirties.

     Lastly, yet first and foremost, he was a lifelong Christian whose father was a church elder.

     Don was preceded in death by his beloved wife of 50 years, Nancy, in 2006, and is survived by their son, Brent, also of Burlington, and younger sister Sherry (Donald) Amman, of Fort Morgan, as well as nieces, a nephew, numerous friends and of course, his church family.  Everyone who knew him will dearly miss him.

     Memorials may be made in Donald's name and may be left at or sent to Bank of Burlington, PO Box 427, Burlington, Colorado 80807.