O'NEAL, Barbara F. (1932-2023)

ONEAL

Posted By: Karon Velau (email)
Date: 4/29/2023 at 15:07:51

Barbara Flo O'Neal
(November 22, 1932 - January 6, 2023)

Barbara Flo (Danner) O’Neal, 90, passed away Friday, January 6, 2023, at Sunrise Retirement Community in Sioux City, Iowa. Flo was born November 22, 1932, at home, before the doctor got there, in a farmhouse in the Woodburn, IA area to parents Lucy Olive Heston Danner and John B. Danner. As a child, Flo walked through the fields (uphill both ways in the snow) to get to school because it was shorter than walking on the roads. Flo attended LeRoy High School where she played basketball. Flo was the high scorer her senior year, when the team was undefeated and almost made it to the State Tournament. Flo was valedictorian when she graduated in 1951. After high school, Flo worked at Banker's Life in Des Moines for 6 years. She worked in “Policy Loan” and “Surrender Cash” and used a calculator. Flo loved spending her weekends on the farm so she took the train home every weekend. She bought a new car, got saved and met her husband-to-be all at about the same time, within 3 weeks of each other, in late September and early October of 1956. Pastor Beals, a country preacher who rotated between 4 churches, wrote a letter to Flo and asked her “don’t you want to get the sin question settled?” She talked with Pastor Beals one Saturday, and he gave her a copy of the book of John. She went to church the next day and got saved and baptized that Sunday night. Flo met Wilford Lee O’Neal, her future husband, on October 10, 1956. Flo’s co-workers Delores Cooper and Jeanette Curnes (Willie’s sister) set Willie and Flo up on a blind date. Willie and Flo were married less than a year later on August 28, 1957, at Goshen Baptist Church in Lucas County, Iowa. After getting married, Flo continued to work at Banker's Life up until she was 6 months pregnant. Flo was a stay-at-home mom and was always working! In addition to the normal things like caring for the children, cooking 3 meals a day, and doing laundry for 9 people, Flo also sewed many of the girls’ clothes, grew a huge garden, and canned or froze vegetables from the garden. Most years she raised and butchered 100 chickens a year; she milked a cow, when they had one that needed milking. Flo worked at TenX in Pleasantville, sewing down-filled coats, for close to a year while Willie was laid off. After the kids were grown, Flo worked the elections in Sandyville, IA for years where she eventually became the chairman. Early in their marriage, Willie and Flo became active members of Indianola Regular Baptist Church in Indianola, Iowa. Flo worked in Joy Club, Bible School, Awana and taught Sunday School. On January 1, 1976, they became charter members of Pleasantville Baptist Church, where Flo was a Sunday School teacher for 34 years and where she also kept the books for many years. Willie and Flo brought many people from the Beech and Sandyville area to church.
She is survived by her seven children, Jeffrey O’Neal, Kimberly (Sam) Crabtree, Lavonna (Mark) Arms, Barbara (Ronnie) Hunt, Rita (Scott) Updyke, John (Kara) O’Neal and Andrew (Lanette) O’Neal; her twenty grandchildren, Jacob (Audrey) Crabtree, Nathan (Nicole) Hunt, John Crabtree, Hannah O’Neal, Kathleen (Christian) Wolone, Stephanie (Daniel) Gardner, Joseph Arms, Michael Crabtree, Stephen O’Neal, Abby (Ryan) Austin, Jonathan O’Neal, David Arms, Brannon (Lucinda) Huang, Samuel O’Neal, Daniel Updyke, Rachel Updyke, Remy O’Neal, Caitrin O’Neal, William Updyke, Maegan O’Neal; great-grandchildren, Leland Claussen, Anna Hunt, Penelope Crabtree, Ryan Hunt, Audriella Gardner, Theodore Crabtree, Elise Gardner; and brother Herman Danner. She is preceded in death by Wilford Lee O’Neal, her husband of 63 years, her parents and brothers Daniel Danner, Jerry Danner and Billie Danner. Services will be held 2 p.m. Friday, January 13, 2023 at Overton Funeral Home in Indianola. The visitation will be held from noon to 2 p.m. prior to services at the funeral home. Burial will follow in the Sandyville Cemetery. In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be given to Pleasantville Baptist Church in her name. [This memorial is provided by Overton Funeral Home, 501 West Ashland Ave., Indianola, Iowa, http://www.overtonfuneral.com/]