Mary Gertrude Fulp Mcneal

Mrs. Mary Gertrude (Fulp) McNeal was born to Chester Cola and Mary Eddie Fulp on March 16, 1926 in Elkin, North Carolina. She was the youngest of nine children. She lived a dedicated, determined, productive 94 years, and died peacefully on 28 January, 2021. The love of her life was her husband, Curtis Isaiah McNeal Sr. (deceased). The joys of her life were her children, Curtis (deceased), Barbara, Robert (deceased), and Donald. She doted on her grandchildren.

In her mid-twenties, Mary moved from North Carolina to Florida to be with older sisters Lorraine and Edna. She brought her laughter and joy of life with her, and took a job as a Telephone Operator. She attended a local dance, and met Curtis I. McNeal Sr., a young Navy enlistee, who by the end of the evening’s dancing, declared he was in love and wanted to marry her! Six weeks later, Mary agreed, and became a dedicated military wife until Curtis retired from the military 27 years later. Curtis and Mary were happily married for 62 years.

Being a military wife (Navy, then Air Force) meant Mary moved her family often: Panama Beach FL, Phoenix City AZ, Frankfurt Germany, Montgomery AL, Albany GA, and finally Warner Robins GA. With every move, Mary took care of her children and helped support her family. In Albany, Mary worked at Gibson’s Dept. Store as Toy Department manager. In Warner Robins, she worked as manager of the Toy Department at Rose’s, and later worked at Hallmark Nursing Home (Warner Robins Rehab) as a Certified Nursing Assistant (CNA). While working at Hallmark, she took night courses to become a Licensed Dietician. She saw a need for quality food preparation in the nursing home, and she moved into food management to meet that need. She ran the kitchen as efficiently as a drill sergeant and ensured every patient was treated fairly and never missed a well-balanced meal. Mary maintained the kitchen budget, and insured “her” patients never went without. Mary would go out of her way to buy quality food, driving miles on her own time to make purchases that saved the budget. She worked as a dietician for over 20 years. She also served as Secretary of the State Board of Dieticians.

After retirement, Mary assisted her husband managing the rental properties they had acquired through their hard work and thriftiness. But Mary loved people too much to stay home, and began volunteering at the Soup Kitchen Outreach of First Methodist Church. She volunteered at the kitchen from 1995-2010. The church noticed that on Mary’s days of preparing food, the attendance numbers were way up and attributed this to the love and culinary expertise Mary brought to the kitchen. On average, Mary would feed 70-80 people in a day, and with her smile and ready laugh, would make it look easy.

From 1999 to May 2010, Mary volunteered at the Houston County Hospital as a Pink Lady (today’s Blue Angels). Mary gave 5,650 hours of volunteer service as a Pink Lady. Her smile and laugh were always present, and she cheered up everyone she met.

After the death of her husband, Mary suffered an auto accident in the summer of 2011, and was moved to Peachbelt Health and Rehab Center. In 2012, she was voted “Ms. Peachbelt 2012”. She accepted the honor with her usual humble attitude and unstoppable smile. She remarked that she had not won anything since she was a young girl and won the title of “Most Freckles” at a hometown fair. With the help of her daughter Barbara, she carried out her duties for that year with grace and her usual joy and laughter. Mary went on to compete at the state level, and won the title of “Ms. Georgia Nursing Home 2012.” Mary eventually recovered sufficiently to move back home where Barbara knew she would be happiest, and be able to spend time with her son Rob.

If Mary had a hobby, it would be shopping. Mary and Rob would shop for hours and this was very apparent at Christmas when there were SO many presents that sometimes she couldn’t remember where she had put them all or who she had bought them for. Wrapping would take days and each present had so much tape that there wouldn’t be a single place to slip in a finger to break the paper. We constantly accused her of having stock in 3M.

Mary was passionate in every aspect of her life. She emphasized the importance of education in each of her children, and inspired them to be all that they could be. Mary was so very proud of her children, the paths they took, and their upright lives. It was evident whenever she spoke of them. While she loved people deeply, her number one priority was always her family, and raising them to be grounded in Christ. She led by example, and was deeply devoted to her Lord. In her life, she weathered the challenging outcome of her son Robert’s surgery at age 3, the death of her beloved husband, and the unexpected death of her oldest son Curtis, age 56. She lived out Proverbs 3:5 with incredible grace and trust.

Mary had a heart and a joy for life, for people, and for her family that made her a treasure to us all. We thank God He gave us these many years with her. She is an inspiration and a memory that brings both comfort and a challenge, that we would make for ourselves a life as well-lived as her own.

Mary is survived by her daughter Barbara (Scott Snider) and son Don (Jana), her 5 grandchildren: Jana Smith, Adam McNeal, Nick McNeal, Bobby Archer and Melissa Hart; one sister Nelda Johnson; her daughter-in-law Melisa McNeal-Fox.

A special “Thank You” to Leslie Wilson, Jerrica Wilson, Resheda Lewis and Destiny Jackson who lovingly helped care for Mary and Rob. Our heartfelt thanks for your competence, kindness, and compassion.

Sadly, Mary’s son, Rob, passed away last weekend, but their family will be celebrating both of their lives together. Visitation will be on Sunday, January 31, 2021, from 2:00 p.m. until 3:00 p.m., at McCullough Funeral Home. A funeral service will follow at 3:00 p.m., in the chapel of McCullough Funeral Home with Reverend Andy Cook officiating. Mary and Rob will be laid to rest next to each other in Magnolia Park Mausoleum privately.

In lieu of flowers, the family respectfully requests memorial donations be given in memory of Mary to the Houston Medical Center Volunteer Auxiliary, 1601 Watson Blvd., Warner Robins, GA 31093.

Learn more about the measures McCullough Funeral Home is taking to ensure the health and safety of our guests at www.mcculloughfh.com. There you can also sign an Online Registry for the family. McCullough Funeral Home and Crematory has the privilege of being entrusted with these arrangements.