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Birth:          7 Dec 1930 Belvidere, Boone Co., Ill.
Death:          18 Sep 2012 East Moline, Rock Island Co., Ill.
Burial:         Rock Island Nat'l Cemetery, Rock Island, Ill.

Notes
!PUBL
Bennett Fam Tree on ancestry
EAST MOLINE - Nancy Bennett McNeil, 81, passed away on Tuesday, September 18, 
2012, at Hope Creek Care Center in East Moline.

Burial alongside her husband in the Rock Island Arsenal Cemetery.

Nancy (Bennett) McNeil, was born December 7, 1930, to Harold Mitchell Bennett and 
Gertrude Irene Porter Bennett in Belvidere, Ill. Nancy married the love of her life, 
Donald James McNeil, June 30, 1952, in Moline. Afterward, a wedding celebration was 
held at a legendary nightspot, The Plantation.

As a young girl, Nancy lived in Des Moines, Belvidere and East Lansing before the 
family settled in Moline, where she attended Moline Public Schools. At Coolidge Junior 
High School, she was an American Legion Award Winner and a spelling bee 
champion. She graduated from Moline Senior High School in 1949, where she was a 
National Honor Society member and Secretary of the MHS Student Congress.

She attended the University of Illinois @ Champaign briefly, then Augustana College 
which she supported throughout her life. After beginning her studies in English 
Literature and Art, she put her academic career on hold when, as young newlyweds, 
she and Don moved to Chicago. There she worked at an advertising agency to 
support her husband as he studied dentistry at the University of Illinois-Chicago. After 
graduating from dental school, Don served in the U.S. Air Force at Westover Air Force 
Base, Springfield, Mass. He and Nancy lived there for two years, welcoming their first 
two children before returning to Moline in 1957, to break ground on his new Moline 
dental practice.

Genealogist, gourmet cook, artist, avid reader and intrepid traveler, Nancy, and her 
brother Porter, were also original 1940's era Moline Sailing Club members. While 
sailing dingies on the Mississippi River, she met her future husband, Don McNeil. 
Later, she became an ardent supporter of her kids and grandkids, rarely missing a 
swimming meet or sailing regatta. She treasured the summers she spent on the shores 
of Lake Michigan, beginning in 1959 as she and Don discovered a group of Quad 
Cities residents at a place called Michillinda.

Nancy was a strong supporter of education, having volunteered as a tutor for the 
Moline School District. She also backed the arts, including WVIK Public Radio, WQPT 
Public TV and the QC Symphony. She was a long-time supporter of QC swimming from 
1965 on, including being a Moline Blue Marlin gold sponsor and a supporter of the 
Two Rivers YMCA Strong Kids Campaigns.

She is survived by her children Mitchell (Pamela) McNeil, Oak Park, Ill.; Douglas 
McNeil, Spring Lake, Mich.; Porter (Mary), Moline; Christopher (Ann) McNeil, Maui, 
Hawaii; and Elizabeth (Gerald) Gill, Springfield.

She was a loving grandmother to 14, including Cameron, John and Ben McNeil; 
Gwenivere, Samuel and Hannah Gill; Emily, Zoe and William McNeil; Dylan and Evan 
McNeil; James, Jack and Ellie McNeil. Nancy enjoyed each and every grandchild, and 
the various activities in which they were involved. She would be terribly proud of their 
recent achievements.

Other survivors include sister-in-law Virginia McKibben Bennett Nelson, and her 
children Tom, Jon, Jamie and Sara Bennett-Springer; and neice Barbara (Rick) Bracke 
Moskowitz, and nephews Father James Bracke and Tom (Deb) Bracke.

She was preceded in death by her husband, Don, her brother Porter Bennett (who 
played on the MHS basketball team that finished second in state in 1943), and her 
parents, Trudy and Harold Bennett. 
 

Parents
BENNETT Harold Mitchell (12 Jun 1894 - 25 Jun 1978)
PORTER Gertrude Irene (1901 - 1995)

Siblings
BENNETT Porter (1 May 1926 - 7 Dec 1981)
BENNETT Nancy (7 Dec 1930 - 18 Sep 2012)

Marriage To MCNEIL Donald James (25 Apr 1929 - 19 Jul 2004)
    m. 30 Jun 1952 Moline, Rock Island Co., Ill.

Notes

Parents
MCNEIL James ()
RUSS Elsie ()

Children by MCNEIL Donald James 25 Apr 1929 - 19 Jul 2004
MCNEIL Mitchell B. ()
MCNEIL Douglas James ()
MCNEIL Porter ()
MCNEIL Christopher ()
MCNEIL Elizabeth ()

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