Neill, Mary Ann (Bickel) 1860 - 1949

NEILL, BICKEL, STEELE, HEMPEL, RICHARDS, KRUETTER

Posted By: Reid R. Johnson (email)
Date: 7/29/2017 at 13:24:54

Clayton County Register, Thur., 20 Jan. 1949.

Funeral services for Mary A. Neill, 88, were held from her residence in Giard at 2 o'clock Thursday afternoon. The Rev. Gordon Allen, pastor of the Giard Methodist church, officiated. Burial was in the Giard cemetery.

Mrs. Neill died at her home in Giard at 2 o'clock Monday afternoon, Jan. 17. Death was due to the infirmities of old age.

Mary Ann Bickel, the daughter of Daniel F. and Martha Steele Bickel, was born Aug. 28, 1860, in a log cabin one and one-half miles northwest of Giard on what is known as the old camp ground. When a small child she moved with her parents to Giard, where she spent the most of her life.

She received her education in the Giard and McGregor schools and attended college at Galena, Ill.

She was married Dec. 25, 1882, to Chauncey Johnson Neill. The couple went to housekeeping in Giard, where Mr. Neill, in partnership with J. D. Bickel, operated the creamery and general store until 1895, when the Neills purchased a confectionary store of C. L. Lewis in McGregor, which they operated until 1901. They returned to Giard township and spent a number of years on the old Neill homestead four miles west of Giard, later moving to the new home they built in Giard.

The home, "The Pines," so named because of the trees in the yard, was a haven for tourists and a popular eating place for two decades, and Mrs. Neill was known throughout Iowa and surrounding states for her chicken dinners served family style. She retired in 1938 and continued to live in the home she loved until her death at the age of 88 years, four months and 19 days.

She is survived by two sisters, Mrs. J. G. (Emma M.) Hempel, Elkader, and Mrs. F. S. (Ella B.) Richards, McGregor, and by a number of nieces and nephews. She was preceded by her husband Sept. 11, 1934, and one sister, Mrs. C. B. (Kate) Kruetter.

Pallbearers were: A. M. Burlingame, Ed Koether, John Hartwick, Con Lovig, Irvin Meyer, and Herman Allert.