Kathleen "Trinka" Neal, 90, died in Austin on Saturday, Oct 3, 2015. Memorial service: Will be held Saturday, Nov. 7, at the family farm in Midlothian. Memorials: Donations to the Salvation Army are appreciated. She was born Jan. 30, 1925, in Dallas, the third daughter of M. Stuart Seely and Louise Berwick Seely. She was followed by a brother, M.S. "Buddy" Seely Jr., who died at age 5 of strep throat. She grew up on Gaston Avenue in Dallas across the street from Baylor Hospital, where her Pop was a physician. She graduated from Woodrow Wilson High School and the University of Texas with a geology degree. One of the highlights of her geology studies was going to Mexico in 1944 for the eruption of the cornfield volcano Paricutin. Trinka married Air Corps pilot Thad M. Neal on July 19, 1946, in New York City just before he shipped off to Frankfurt, Germany, to fly the Berlin Airlift. Trinka soon joined him and they were soon joined by their daughter, Lucinda, in 1948. His next Air Force assignment was Fort Worth, where Robert, Julie and Mark were born. The family then moved to Wichita Falls, then Springfield, Va., where Thad worked at the Pentagon and Trinka made sure no sight was left unseen, Scout troop left unled or park unexplored. The final Air Force stop was Atlanta. Thad was training in Florida to spray Agent Orange in Vietnam when his plane crashed, leaving Trinka to raise four teens. She moved back to Fort Worth and a library science degree from North Texas State University enabling her to work many years in public and school libraries. She spent her summers and retirement traveling the world sometimes with a sister, Phoebe Jane Felker or Dorothy Conlon, or fellow retired librarians. The last seven years of her life were spent in Austin, with the last three years at the amazing, hidden gem Southern Hospitality Home, where her keen observations and curiosity were appreciated right to the end. She was preceded in death by her parents and sisters. Survivors: Daughter, Cindy Morgan and husband, Fletcher, of Merritt Island, Fla., and stepgrandsons, Bryson and Jamie; son, Bob and wife, Betsy, of Marietta, Ga., granddaughter, Tristan Lee and husband, Casey, and their children, Ada, Ruby and Xavier, of Midlothian, and grandson, Travis Neal, wife, Lynn, and their daughter, Kate, of Fort Collins, Colo.; daughter, Julie Walker of Austin and her daughters, Dorothy Boeck and husband, Max, of Denver and Lily Beesley and husband, Bradley, of Austin; son, Mark of Midlothian; cousin, Edward Thiele and wife, Catherine, of Franklin, Tenn.; niece, Kris Lackey and husband, Ron, of Midlothian; niece, Kathy Lewis and husband, John, of Fredricksburg; nephews and nieces, Jim and David Bonham, Maryanna Leverett and Catherine Jacocks of Louisiana; lifelong friends, Helen Faye Herd of Dallas and Billie Rice of Ada, Okla.; and the visiting Conklin cousins, Kellie, Kathy and Kary of Irving.
Published in Star-Telegram on Oct. 11, 2015