Idaho State Journal
http://www.journalnet.com
1922 - 2019
He was an easy man to love. He was a kind, gentle, caring man with a quick smile and firm handshake. Robert (Robin) Edward O'Neall, 96, passed away on April 29, 2019 with family at his bedside and under the loving care of the staff at the Idaho State Veterans Home, Memory Care Unit, where he had been residing for the past four years.
He was born July 11, 1922 at home in Parsons, Kansas to Grover Cleveland O'Neall and Nora Elizabeth Jett O'Neall, the 8th of 11 children. He was a depression era child, growing up on a subsistence farm, hunting rabbits for dinner, and trapping muskrats for their pelts. He grew up loving nature, and was always happiest outdoors, fooling around, digging holes and hauling rocks. When he was 16, he drove with his older brother, Junior, to Spokane looking for work. They found odd jobs along the way, but not enough, so they sold the car and learned to ride the freight trains back to Kansas. The family eventually moved to Spokane, where he finished high school (riding a freight train across town to get to school) at West Valley High School.
Robin joined the Marines in August 1941 and rode the train to boot camp in San Diego. "It was the first time I had ridden on the cushions in a train. I had ridden on lots of trains, but not on the cushions." He trained as an aviation machinist mate and served in the South Pacific for two years, where he suffered a bayonet wound at the hands of an enemy infiltrator, while on guard duty at an airport on the Solomon Islands, and was discharged in December 1943.
He took advantage of VA education benefits and attended the University of Idaho, where he studied forestry and economics, and met Mary Clara Burks, a vivacious, bubbly girl from Jerome. They were married August 3, 1946. Deciding it was time to get a job, Robin started as a lineman for the Idaho Power Company, living in Jerome, Twin Falls, Boise and Pocatello. Robin and Mary had three children: Robert Edward, Rose Mary, and Kathlyn. Mary died as a result of an embolism in November 1953, leaving Robin with three young children.
Robin found another girl in Jerome to love, and married Joan Clair Churchman on April 15, 1956. Joan brought her son Michael with her into the family, and Robin and Joan had one daughter, Sue. They raised their family in Pocatello, where Robin continued to work for the Idaho Power Company in commercial sales.
Always curious, wanting to know what and why, he was a self-taught man. He joined an investment study group to learn about the stock market, and decided to invest in companies whose products he used, because if he liked them, other people would too. Always a hard worker, he spent countless hours turning basements in old houses near ISU into apartments, and renting them to college students.
Robin took early retirement from the Idaho Power company in 1975, because of rheumatoid arthritis. He developed a healthy rest-activity cycle in order to live with arthritis and continue to pursue his many interests. He was an early adopter of solar roof-top panels, which he had installed on their custom built home at the end of Lewis Street in Pocatello. Always wanting land to play on, Robin purchased some land along the Portneuf River near McCammon and built a very challenging swinging bridge to cross the river by foot. He eventually donated the land to the Dept. of Biological Sciences at Idaho State University, and it became the O'Neall Ecological Reserve.
Robin and Joan spent many winters in Lake Havasu, AZ, where Robin volunteered at the Cactus Garden at Lake Havasu City State Park, tending cactus plants. He enjoyed wandering around the Arizona desert on his own in his old Suburban, warming up dinner in the car engine, and digging holes to bury the garbage left by other careless campers.
When Robin and Joan moved to Boise to be closer to family in 1987, Robin discovered a great opportunity to pursue his hobby of digging and moving rocks. He opened up a side stream in the Boise River along the green belt near Municipal Park, by clearing rocks and brush that had built up over the years. This allowed the river to flow around a small island and build up a beach at the end of Walnut St that is still enjoyed today. He started an annual cleanup around Kimberley Lane which residents still call Robin's Day, and he volunteered next door at the Idaho Fish and Game Nature Reserve. When they moved into a patio home on Walling Drive, Robin arranged the rocks in a storm runoff pond nearby to create a meditation walk, with a large iron beam that served as a sundial in the center.
Sadly, he began to leave us very slowly when he developed Alzheimers. Joan provided diligent and loving care for him at home for more than 10 years. When it became too difficult to care for him at home, he moved into the Idaho State Veterans Home.
Robin was preceded in death by his eldest son Robert Edward (Ed) O'Neall Jr. He is survived by his wife Joan, his children Rose Mary Lamberson, Jefferson City, Mo; Kathlyn O'Neall (Scott Erskine), Boise; Sue Tudbury (John), Boise; Michael O'Neall, Pocatello; Ed's wife Susan Thomas O'Neall, Tacoma; seven grandsons: Robert Edward Geier (Jennifer), Nampa; Robert Matthew O'Neall, Tacoma; Steven Lamberson, Tysons Corner, Virginia; Jody Lamberson (Julie), Jefferson City, Mo.; Jeff Lamberson, Jefferson City, Mo; Connor Tudbury, Boise; Riley Tudbury, Boise; and three great grandchildren: Madeline Geier, Boise; Jay Paul Lamberson and Scarlett Rose Lamberson, Jefferson City, Mo.
A funeral Mass was held on May 18 at Risen Christ Catholic Church, Boise. Robin left instructions to donate his remains to the Idaho State University cadaver donation program, but because of CDC regulations regarding brain disease, they were unable to accept the gift. His remains were cremated by the Cremation Society of Idaho and will be buried in Pioneer Cemetery in Boise.
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