Gerald Dale Neal, Sr.

Gerald “Jerry” Dale Neal passed away peacefully in his sleep at Brookdale Reynolda home in Winston-Salem, Oct. 5, 2026 after declining health. He was 90 years old.

The son of the late Beckham and Joyce Smith Neal of Charlotte, N.C., he grew up in Kershaw, S.C., before his family moved to the Queen City where his father worked as a Chevrolet mechanic and his mother as a school cafeteria cook. He was a quiet but inquisitive boy, keen on comic books, music and science. He graduated from East Mecklenburg High School where he played clarinet in the marching band. He attended Wingate Junior College and then Appalachian State University where he earned a Bachelor’s of Science in mathematics. He also met and married the love of his life, Mary Jane Eller, of Vilas in 1957. Mary Jane passed in April 2016 at Brookdale.

After a brief stint as a high school math teacher, he and Mary Jane brought their newborn son, Dale, to Winston-Salem where his daughter Debbie was born in 1959 . He took a job as a technical writer with Western-Electric where he learned computer programming and worked on the Nike missile development for the Department of Defense. He retired as an information systems designer in 1995 from the company, which was then part of AT&T.

A man of deep faith, he served as deacon and treasurer for the Sunday school at Salem Baptist Church. He also was active as an adult leader in Boy Scout Troop 719. A sensitive soul, he tended African violets and love to paint acrylic landscapes often featuring a road or trail ambling alongside a creek into shady woods or a bright horizon. Along with Mary Jane, he traveled across the U.S, and Europe in their later years. They enjoyed a quiet life of reading, gardening, attending church, rooting for the Atlanta Braves, and following college sports.

Left to cherish his memory are his son, Dale Neal (Cynthia) of Asheville; and daughter, Debbie Neal Sinski (Bing) of Huntersville, his sisters, Gloria Neal Rollins, of Haines City, Fla., and Bonney Neal Buie (Ken) of Haines City, Fla.; his granddaughter, Amanda Sinksi Bostian (Phillip); great-grandchildren, Reed and Kinsley of Hickory; grandson, Austin Sinski and Ashley Thompson of Mt. Pleasant, S.C.; and great-granddaughter, Savanah Cooper.

In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to Mountain Valley Hospice

https://mountainvalleycares.org/ways-to-give/donate/memorial-gifts/