Kenneth "Whitey" James Neel

Nov 17, 1940 -

May 21, 2020

Ken was born to Jack and Alta Neel in Camas, Wash., in 1940. Ken's little sister Peg "Peggy Jo" soon followed. The family moved to Sisters, Ore., in 1947, then settled in Redmond, Ore., in 1951.

Ken was known to most people as Whitey, a nickname that he adopted at a young age. Whitey was a standout athlete earning awards in both track and football at Redmond High School where he graduated in 1959.

In 1962, Whitey married Judy Wing and they had four children. He started his own business hauling potatoes, worked briefly as a Redmond police officer, then started his life long career as a truck driver hauling anything from logs to dirt in central Oregon.

Following work opportunities, Whitey moved his family to Alaska in 1983 and although the family soon returned to Redmond, he stayed in Alaska. He joined the Alaska Teamsters local 959 and worked as an owner-operator dirt hauler on dozens of projects. In the mid 1990s, he relocated to Lynwood, Wash., and worked for Mid Mountain contracting until deciding to hang up the log books in 2006.

Whitey returned to Redmond at that time and even though he was "retired" from the Teamsters, it wasn't uncommon to see him behind the wheel for several more years hauling firefighting equipment and supplies to the forest fire fighters or other freight around the state.

Whitey could be found nearly every morning at the crack of dawn "helping" open up Regio's Restaurant. Having coffee and breakfast with the gang was one of the things he most enjoyed. Quick witted, he always had a quiver full of snappy comebacks and good stories to tell.

A lifelong NRA member, he enjoyed hunting deer and elk in the mountains of Oregon, doing word search puzzles, playing cards with local groups and almost never missed wheel of fortune ... "What's Vanna wearing tonight?" But what he loved most was spending time with his kids, grandkids and most recently, his great-grandson.

Whitey will be dearly missed by those that knew him best.

He was preceded in death by his mother Alta and father Jack in 1985 and 1986 respectively.

He is survived by his daughter, Kim (Troy) Mckenzie; grandson, Hunter Mckenzie of Redmond; son, Tyrone (Debra) Neel; grandson, Harley Neel of Anchorage, Alaska; granddaughter, Terez Neel of Durango, Colo.; son, Jason "JD" (Connie) Neel of Redmond; grandsons, Richard Neel of Springfield, Ore., and Jesse (Chawnie) Neel with great-grandson Amos of Redmond; granddaughter, Onyx Neel of Terrebonne; daughter, Thayna (Brian) Baker; granddaughters, Georgia and Gretta Baker of Portland; and sister, Peggy Neel of Redmond.

A celebration of life event to be held at a later date will be announced as larger gatherings are permitted.