Clara Luella (Hamilton) Neill, age 87 of Princeton, MO went to be with the Lord on Tuesday, July 11, 2023, with her children by her side.
She was born on June 3, 1936, at home in the Modena, MO community, north of the Wild Cemetery, the fifth of five children of Arthur Burl and Vera Gladys (Hickman) Hamilton. She went to the Hamilton School (one-room school house) for the first eight years then graduated from Princeton R-5 High School. She married Raymon Eugene Neill on December 16, 1955, and they resided in Cedar Rapids, IA where she worked at Collins Radio and was a homemaker until 1968 at which time they moved to the farm where Raymon was born and raised in Modena. She was a diversified farmwife who loved to cook, bake, sew, quilt, tend her vegetable gardens and can the harvest, and help with running the farm. Clara was known for her amazing pies, cakes, and cinnamon rolls and loved to cook for her family. She also cleaned houses for several different families in and around Mercer County and worked at the Glove Factory. She loved the Lord and was very active in the church and community where ever she lived and was a member of the We Help You Help Club later renamed the Modena Community Club and was presiding president of the club from 1972-1973. She was loved by her family as well as many friends that she made over her 87 years on this earth.
Clara was preceded in death by her husband Raymon (RE) Neill; parents Arthur Burl and Vera Gladys Hamilton; siblings Cletus Hamilton, Vera (Hamilton) and Earl Clark, Alba Jean (Hamilton) and Robert Boyd; and sister-in-law Willa Hamilton. In-laws Byron Allen and Ona (Hickman) Neill, Hubert Neill, Twilia (Neill) and Maurice Dorland, William and Harriet Neill, Louree (Neill) and Jack Bennet, Cecil Nadine (Neill) and Mike Moore; and sister-in-law Patricia (Patsy) Neill; niece Lyndell Eileen (Dorland) and Norman Bade; nephews Dennis and Faith Neill; James Boyd and grandson Chris Spease.
Clara is survived by her children Marnita (Neill) (Hickman) and Gary Spease of Princeton, MO, Anita (Neill) and Kurt Sontheimer of Savannah, MO, and Scott and Tammy Neill of Meadville, MO. Grandchildren Zachary Hickman of Dallas, TX, Mace and Stephanie Hickman of Princeton, MO, Jacob and Shelby Hickman of Princeton, MO, Garrett and Justine Spease of Kansas City, KS, Chante’ (Sontheimer) Green of Independence, MO, Rachelle Sontheimer of Thornton, CO, Dakato and Rebecca Neill of Meadville, MO and Lillian (Neill) and Matt Snethen of Omaha, NE. Great-grandchildren Zane, Maggie, and Molley Hickman of Princeton, MO, Chloe O’Neill Green of Independence, MO, Payton and Raymon (RE) Neill of Meadville, MO, Louella Mabel (Lu Lu) Snethen of Omaha, NE and Samantha Spease of Kansas City, KS. Brother Dail Hamilton of American Canyon, CA; brother-in-law Edwin (Butch) and Lila Neill of Trenton, MO; sister-in-law Betty Neill of Princeton, MO; and many nieces and nephews, family, and friends.
Services will be Saturday, July 15, 2023, at 10:00 am at the Modena Baptist Church in Modena, MO; Burial will be at the Salem Cemetery Mill Grove, MO. In lieu of flowers, a donation can be made to Grand Oaks Baptist Assembly in Chillicothe, MO to support the camp for children and youth.
