Obituary: Michael Dennis McNeer, 79

MCNEER

Michael Dennis McNeer, 79, of Forest Hill, WV, died Wednesday, November 2, 2022, following a long illness. Mike was the son of the late Buford and Anna Mae McNeer.

Born in Hinton, WV, on October 12, 1943, Mike earned his undergraduate degree from the University of Virginia and received his medical degree from West Virginia University in 1969. He retired from psychiatry in 2005. Throughout his long career, he helped many in both West Virginia and Ohio. His patients loved him. Much of his work was in addiction medicine. Mike was a friend of Bill’s, recently celebrating 38 years of continuous sobriety.

Mike spent hours studying the lives of the Christian mystics, frequently quoting Julian of Norwich: “All will be well.” He enjoyed listening to music, often asking Alexa to play favorite classical pieces and hymns. He walked daily, until he was too weak to do so, and appreciated the natural beauty near his Summers County home.

He also loved to eat. The only dishes he didn’t care for were liver and tomato aspic. It is cruelly ironic that a man who loved to eat as much as Mike did would succumb to esophageal cancer, and that chemotherapy would steal his taste for coffee and peanut butter, two former dietary staples.

Mike is survived by his devoted wife, Debbi; daughter, Elizabeth Deep of Florida; and sons, James of Alaska and Lee of Charlotte, NC; Lee’s children, Max, Beck, Cade, and Laine; and by his dear cousins, Dell Gates and Vickie Navarra. His life was enriched by friends, Art Van Zee, Ann Price, Kent Higgins, and Nancy Martin, as well as many others, near and far.

The family would like to acknowledge and thank the staffs of Carl Larson Cancer Center, Hospice of Southern West Virginia, Bowers Hospice House, and Summers County ARH for the care, attention, and support each provided at various times during Mike’s illness.

Special thanks also are extended to Mike’s church family. Ascension Episcopal Church in Hinton, WV, was truly a sanctuary for Mike. He will be cremated, and his ashes placed in the columbarium there. A memorial service will be held at the church Saturday, November 12, at 2 p.m.; visitation will precede the service at 1 p.m.

Your offering to the church would bless and honor his memory. Contributions may be sent to Ascension at 222 5th Avenue, Hinton, WV 25951.

Online condolences at www.pivontfuneralhome.com.

Arrangements by Pivont Funeral Home, Hinton, WV.