Harry Lanelle MCNEILUS

MCNEILUS, WHITAKER, FLYNN, LUMSDEN

Posted By: Sarah Thorson Little (email)
Date: 1/16/2012 at 13:54:26

July 12, 1920 ---- January 13, 2012

The funeral service for Harry Lanelle McNeilus will be 10 a.m. Wednesday, Jan. 18, 2012, at the Seventh Day Adventist Church, 410 3rd Ave. S.W. in Dodge Center, Minn., with Dr. Vernon Erickson and Thomas Bentley co-officiating. Interment will be in the Riverside Cemetery in Dodge Center, Minn.

Harry Lanelle McNeilus, 91, passed away at his home in Dodge Center on Friday morning, Jan. 13, 2012. Harry Lanelle McNeilus was born on July 12, 1920, the son of George and Elsie (Whitaker) McNeilus in Clarion, Iowa. He graduated from Hylandale Academy in Rockland, Wis., in 1937 and attended Union College in Lincoln, Neb. He served in the U.S. Navy from 1942 to 1946 as a Sea Bee serving in the European and Pacific Theaters. Harry was united in marriage to Grace Flynn on Feb. 4, 1944, in Plymouth, England. They lived in Lanesboro, Minn., until moving to Dodge Center in 1948, and started McNeilus scrap metal which later became McNeilus Steel. Harry served on school board, was bank director, and led the fight to keep the school in Dodge Center. In 1980, he was the first Citizen of the Year in Dodge Center and was inducted in 1996 to the Business Person Hall of Fame in Dodge Center. He enjoyed fishing and hunting and his resort in northern Minnesota. Harry was very active member of the Seventh Day Adventist Church for many years.

Harry is survived by one daughter, Maureen (Tom Lumsden) McNeilus, Rochester; four sons, George (Shari) McNeilus, Dodge Center, Marnelle (Mary Ann) McNeilus, Lanesboro, Pat (Rhonda) McNeilus, Dodge Center, Michael (Mary) McNeilus, Dodge Center; fourteen grandchildren; and seven great-grandchildren. He was preceded in death by his parents; his wife, Grace in 1997; one daughter; one infant son; three brothers; and three sisters.

Visitation will be 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. Tuesday, Jan. 17, 2012, at the Czaplewski Family Funeral Home, 110 West Main Street, Dodge Center, and one hour before the service at the church on Wednesday.

Rochester Post Bulletin - Rochester, Minnesota
January 15, 2012