Neal Sumner : July 22, 1943 - February 17, 2023

Joseph Neal Sumner, 79, of Meansville passed away at home with his wife, Becky Sumner, by his side on February 17, 2023.

Known as Neal to his friends and family, he always had a joke and a smile ready for everyone he met. 

He retired from Thomaston Mills after 29 years as a shop technician and then worked for 22 years as the Director of Engineers at Newton Covington Medical Center.

Neal was always quick to offer his help to those he loved, even if he had already worked more than 40 hours that week or had plenty of big tasks of his own to do at home.

He loved birds and had a cockateel named Cleo that lived for 14 years. He could also name any bird that he saw and identify their songs.

His ability to repair or build a wide range of things was always a source of amazement to his friends and family. 

Neal struggled with many health issues in recent years but would always do his best to make others feel good and laugh even when he wasn't feeling well.

Neal was preceded in death by his parents William Augustus Sumner and Doris Arlene Tidwell Sumner and his brother Roger (Nancy) Sumner.

Neal is survived by his wife, Becky Sumner; his son Kenneth Lamar Sumner (Komnai); his daughter Lisa Diane Price (Mark); his brother Robert O'Dell Sumner (Dora); his grandchildren, Mya, Jennifer Reed, and Michael Lee; great-grandchildren Alexus, Shyanne, Dakota, and Alyssa, his stepchildren Samuel Weeks (Jolane), Daniel Weeks (Mercedes), Nathanael Weeks (Kristy), and Rachel McDaniel (Matthew), as well as his step-grandchildren Gabriella and Isabella Weeks, Samantha, Rebecca, and Thomas Weeks and Lola and Lily McDaniel as well as many nieces, nephews, cousins and friends.

A Celebration of Life service will be held for Neal on Thursday, February 23, 2023, at 6 p.m., in the chapel of Moody-Daniel Funeral Home located in Zebulon.