Raleigh McNeal

Just Cremation

On May 23, 1928, Frank “Lester” and “Millie” (Wheeler) McNeal welcomed their son, Raleigh Lester McNeal, into their hearts and home in Colfax, Washington. Within seven months, 22-year-old Lester had been killed in an accident and 18-year-old Millie was left alone to raise their boy. With Millie’s unfailing determination and the love and support of both the Wheeler and McNeal clans, Raleigh grew to be intelligent, talented, creative, and opinionated. As a young teenager, Raleigh gained a step-father in Louis Carson. The family was soon joined by twin brothers, Roger and Ray, and eventually little sister Jayne.  At 16, Raleigh enlisted in the Merchant Marines and sailed off to the South Pacific. After World War II, he returned to Eastern Washington where his passion for the guitar began in earnest and where his family grew with the addition of his son, Lester.  Raleigh’s charm and abilities afforded him the opportunity to investigate several careers. While earning his pilot’s license, he met a couple of fellows who had come to the Palouse to help with crop dusting. They recognized his aptitude for mechanics and invited him to work with them in Missoula. Never one to turn down an adventure, Raleigh moved to the Garden City and went to work for Johnson Flying Service. One day while repairing a plane, the propeller came down suddenly and broke his arm. He went to a local doctor and met a pretty brown-eyed receptionist named Esther. They began a romance, were married, and some years later were joined by their daughter, Polly.  Raleigh worked for a time at Jack Schwenk’s Union 76, the Anaconda Lumber Mill, and Sammons Trucking. He spent the bulk of his career in broadcasting working at KGVO TV and KYSS FM Radio, among others. During this time, Raleigh’s musical prowess also blossomed as he first played guitar in Western Swing bands. Then he realized that he preferred to entertain audiences exclusively as a Jazz guitarist. He played with many local bands and taught a number of musicians to play Jazz guitar. He was honored to be an inaugural inductee into the Missoula Jazz Hall of Fame.  Raleigh had wide-ranging talents from building his own hydroplane to drawing on buckskin and constructing belt buckles and cribbage boards out of antlers. There was never any shortage of materials to work with as Raleigh was adept at hunting and fishing, always filling his tag when everyone else said they hadn’t seen anything and always catching his limit when others said that they just weren’t biting.  Raleigh made many dear friends with whom he remained close throughout the years. He was especially proud of and grateful for the love of all of his relatives. Although some are scattered to the four winds, his family was his foundation.  Raleigh left this life on Friday, Nov. 4, 2016. He was preceded in death by his parents and son Lester. He is survived by his wife Esther; daughter Polly; daughter-in-law Dianne; grandchildren Darin, Bryan, Bambi, Jeni, and Gideon; great-grandchildren, great-great-grandchildren; brothers Roger and Ray; sister Jayne, nieces, nephews, cousins, and in-laws. Raleigh didn’t want a service and we are respecting his wishes.

When words can’t fully express what we want to say, sometimes a small gift can. Visit our Memorial Store for personalised gifts, keepsake jewellery and to plant a memorial tree.

We use cookies to improve your browsing experience and analyse site traffic. 
See our <privacyLink>Privacy Policy</privacyLink>.

<firstParagraph>We also use third-party cookies that help us analyse how you use this website, store your preferences, and provide content and advertisements that are relevant to you. These cookies will only be stored on your browser with your prior consent.</firstParagraph><secondParagraph>You can choose to enable or disable some or all of these cookies, but disabling some of them may affect your browsing experience.</secondParagraph>

<firstParagraph>We use cookies to help you navigate efficiently and perform certain functions. You will find detailed information about all cookies under each consent category below.</firstParagraph><secondParagraph>The cookies that are categorised as 'Necessary' are stored on your browser as they are essential for enabling the basic functionality of the site.</secondParagraph>

Advertising cookies are used to provide visitors with personalised adverts based on the pages you previously visited, and to analyse the effectiveness of ad campaigns.

Advertising

Analytics cookies are used to understand how visitors interact with the website. These cookies help provide information on metrics such as the number of visitors, bounce rate, traffic source, etc.

Analytics

Functional cookies help perform certain functions, such as sharing the website’s content on social media platforms, collecting feedback, and other third-party features.

Functional

Necessary cookies are required to enable the basic features of this site, such as providing secure log-in or adjusting your consent preferences. These cookies do not store any personally identifiable data.

Necessary

Performance cookies are used to understand and analyse the key performance indicators of the website, which helps deliver a better user experience for visitors.

Performance

Customise Cookie Preferences

Verification Successful!

New Message

The following files could not be uploaded

Ways you can honour {memorialName}'s memory:

Donation Link

Upcoming Event

Featured Mementos

Welcome message

Select an item to highlight

Add a highlighted item

Customise which items you’d like to highlight on the memorial

Create Account

Become a Keeper

As a free {brandName} user, you will only be able to make 5 photos and videos public.

As a free {brandName} user, only the first five (5) Mementos are visible to page visitors. You can change which Mementos are public by dragging and dropping a photo or video into one of the first five positions. Upgrading to {brandName} Plus will make all 10 selected Mementos visible to the public.

All Mementos

This option is only available to Keeper Plus users.

To allow yourself and the wider community to view all images and videos, and to enable everyone to download their own copy of these mementos, upgrade your account to Keeper Plus.

This memento is not visible to visitors

Your community has posted {itemCount} more pictures and videos that honour {firstName}'s memory. To view them all, and to enable everyone to download their own copy of each, this account will need to upgrade to Keeper Plus.

View all images and videos with Keeper Plus

Our Obituary Assistant helps you craft a meaningful life story in minutes. Review and edit every detail, and unlock more features with Keeper Plus.

Obituary Assistant

Spend as much time as you need working on your Memorial page before it is visible to the public, and much more, when you upgrade to Keeper Plus.

Save Page as Draft

Create unlimited event pages and unlock a suite of powerful features to help you seamlessly coordinate event details, invitations, and more when you upgrade to Keeper Plus.

Event

Create a complete picture of your loved one’s community and add unlimited family and friends to Loved Ones when you upgrade to Keeper Plus.

Loved One

Create unlimited Memorials — and unlock unlimited images and videos, event pages, and advanced privacy settings — to help you keep memories alive when you upgrade to Keeper Plus.

Memorial Page

Add unlimited Stories to highlight all the things that made your loved one unique, from milestones, images, albums, documents, locations and much more.

Highlight Stories

Upgrading to Keeper Plus means you can add additional Keepers to help you gather Mementos and tributes, approve content, build a family tree, and tell {firstName}'s story on Keeper.

Invite Keepers with Keeper Plus

Upload and display unlimited photos and videos, use unlimited Story templates to highlight key moments, and allow friends and family to download their own copies when you upgrade to Keeper Plus.

Better Mementos with Keeper Plus

To access memorial-related configurations that control the display of the banner, upgrade to Keeper Plus.

This configuration is not available on your current plan

Create a meaningful link path to add a personal touch to {firstName}'s memorial.

Custom memorial link

Gift Messages

SENDING AS A GIFT?

Basket

About 1-800 Flowers

"Flowers were beautiful and they arrived in time before the funeral. Thank you and I will purchase more in the future.!"

Tears of Joy

"Beautiful flowers. I’ve always enjoyed sending them to my loved ones as a sympathy gesture, and they have always loved them very much. Thanks for helping people feel good when receiving them."

Condolences

"This was true to the photo, and it was good to know the family took the arrangement after the service."

Beautiful arrangement. Perfect size for the service.

Some of the wonderful things our customers say about us

We’re here to make it a little easier, with thoughtful gifts for the service and home, along with expert advice on how to be there during a difficult time.

Flowers

Gift Hampers

Express Your Deepest Sympathy

About Us

Perfect Sympathy Gift

No one is meant to grieve alone

Peace and love

Product is made, packaged, and sent with love

Keepsakes

How to add your gift message

Packaging Information

Shipping information

Add a Personalised Charm to the Ornament:

Other Keepsakes

Install KeeperQR onto any headstone, urn, or other memorial in minutes.

Install

Use your phone or tablet to scan the unique code — no other tools required!

Scan

All three of our elegant KeeperQR designs are printed on durable, weather-resistant aluminium, designed for indoor and outdoor use on headstones and urns, memorial benches and trees, or other monuments to your loved one’s life.

Built to Last

Get <discount>50% off</discount> Keeper Plus with your KeeperQR purchase

Keeper Basic

Learn About Our Plans

Connect the physical and digital worlds to share your loved one’s life story with friends and family, no matter where they are.

KeeperQR Memorial QR Code Plaques

Planting a memorial tree or bereavement tree is a unique, environmentally conscious way to pay tribute and honour the memory of your loved one. Keeper Memorials is supporting American Forests to plant whitebark pine trees as well as thornscrub trees in select regions of the US and Canada.

Memorial Trees

KeeperQR is designed to pair seamlessly with a Keeper digital memorial. Use our FREE, intuitive tools to create biographies, maps, and timelines, share photos and videos, and more, with customisable features built to commemorate your loved one’s life story.

Powered by Keeper

Lifetime access with no hidden costs or subscription traps

One-off payment

Keeper is SOC 2 compliant, keeping your memories safe and secure.

Data protection guaranteed

We deliver your QR Codes to any corner of the world

Worldwide Delivery

Our durable and beautiful QR code plaques create a seamless connection between your loved one’s physical memorial and their digital memorial, allowing visitors to their final resting place instant access to their life legacy.

Memorial.

Honour their memory, share their story

A KeeperQR is a weather-resistant plaque with a custom QR code that links directly to your loved one’s digital memorial. When placed on a headstone, urn, bench, or tree, it allows friends and family to scan and view their life story instantly.

What is a KeeperQR?

They’re made to withstand the elements outdoors and adhere to most surfaces.

Where can I place the KeeperQR?

How does it work?

Frequently asked questions

KeeperQR

E-Certificate Design

Plant Memorial Trees as a Living Tribute

BRAZIL

Canada

FLORIDA

OREGON

Memorial Project Reach

Memorial trees start at {price} per tree, with discounts for multiple trees

Our Commitment

Gift Hampers & Food

Keeper Plus

QR Plaques

Keeper’s Featured Products

A Greener Way to Remember

Learn about our partners:

Help Us Complete Your Order

Remembrance Store

Using your unique link, your client can sign up for Keeper and create a Memorial for a loved one. Once the Memorial page is completed by the family, it will appear on your microsite and website. You will be the primary Keeper Administrator of the Memorial, along with the family member who created the page.

Invite Your Clients to Create a Memorial

Invite Families

Your Email Notifications

Notifications

Email Unsubscribe Settings

Other settings

With your active Keeper PLUS subscription, you get unlimited access to a suite of powerful features:

Allow visitors to download a local copy of all photos and videos.

Download Media

Create a custom and meaningful URL, unique to your loved one, for each Memorial page.

Editable URL

Plan public or private events and invite your loved ones.

Event Pages

Add images and create profile pages to illustrate the history and genealogy of your loved one.

Family Tree

Invite unlimited administrators to help you manage every Memorial page you have.

Keeper Administrators

Visitors enjoy unrestricted access to all uploaded images and videos.

Unlimited Media

Create unlimited Memorial pages for your loved ones.

Memorial Pages

You will be able to upload Full HD videos instead of embedded links.

Video Uploading

Your Profile

Add a business user

Edit a business user

Are you sure you want to delete these users from these brands? You will need to manually add these users again.

If the user is part of multiple brands, you will have to delete the user from each one individually.

Delete Users from Brands?

User Settings & Notifications

Users

Are you sure you want to delete these users? This action will revoke their privileges across all brands.

Are you sure you want to delete this user? This action will revoke their privileges across all brands.

Delete Users from all Brands?

Delete User from Brand?

Are you sure you want to delete {totalDeletes} from this user?

Delete Roles from this User?

Are you sure you want to delete this user from this brand? You will need to manually add this user again.

Delete User from this Brand?

Requires users to confirm their email every time they would like to share a tribute on a Memorial page.

When Email Tribute Validation is turned OFF, guest users do not need to confirm their email address before their tribute is published.

When Email Tribute Validation is turned ON, Guest users will need to confirm their email address before their tribute is published. They will receive an email with a confirmation link they must click.

Requires users to confirm their email only the first time they would like to share a tribute on a Memorial page.

Email Tribute Validation

If Reported Content is turned OFF, content that has been reported will remain public until it has been Approved or Removed from the Requests Centre.

If Reported Content is turned ON, content that has been reported will be hidden until it has been Approved or Removed from the Requests Centre.

Hide Reported Content

Language

Your email notifications

Email notifications

Are you sure you want to delete the memorial for {name}? This action will permanently remove the memorial from the system.

Delete memorial?

When Memorial Request Moderation is turned OFF, memorials will be published automatically.

When Memorial Request Moderation is turned ON, memorials will only be published if and when you approve them. Memorials can be published or deleted in the Requests centre.

Memorial Request Moderation

Using your unique link, your client can sign up for Keeper and create a Memorial for a loved one. Once the Memorial page has been completed by the family, it will appear on your microsite and website. You will be the main Keeper Administrator of the Memorial, along with the family member who created the page.

Moderation settings

This will permanently delete your account. The business account and business page will not be deleted. To deactivate your account, another admin user must be assigned to your organisation.

Are you sure you want to deactivate this account?

When Override Tribute Moderation is turned OFF, the tribute moderation settings on Memorial pages will be hidden, and other Keepers cannot override the tribute moderation settings specified by your organisation.

When Override Tribute Moderation is turned ON, other Keepers can view and change the tribute moderation settings of the Memorial pages they manage. (Each Memorial page will default to the organisation’s tribute moderation setting upon creation.)

Override Tribute Moderation

If AI Content Moderation is OFF, text areas containing profane language will be published. Tributes can, however, be reported and removed at any time.

If AI Content Moderation is ON, text areas containing profane language will not be published and the user will receive an error message.

AI Content Moderation

When Tribute Moderation is turned OFF, tributes will be published automatically. Once published, users can report inappropriate or spam content. You can delete immediately any tributes published on a Memorial that you administer.

When Tribute Moderation is turned ON, tributes will only be published if and when you approve them. Tributes can be approved or rejected in the Requests centre.

Raleigh McNeal Obituary | Just Cremation