Suddenly, on May 17th 2008, Neil A. Steel of 100 Mile House passed on while on a sightseeing trip to Bella Coola, B.C. His passing was peaceful. Neil was born in Paisley, Scotland and shortly thereafter his family returned to their home in Lochboisdale on the island of South Uist in the Outer Hebrides. Neil joined the Royal Navy in 1945 and met his future wife, - Elizabeth Daly McColl - while on leave in Johnstone, Scotland. Neil and Elizabeth married in August of 1949 and had three children - Donald in Jan. 1951, Karen in July of 1955 and Tommy in Sept. of 1956. In 1953 the Steel family immigrated to Canada settling in Dartmouth, N.S. where Neil joined the Royal Canadian Navy.??Neil left the RCN in 1966 and the family moved to Toronto, Ont. Other than for some very brief periods, Neil spent his life at sea working as a Marine Engineer. Neil retired from the seagoing life in the early ‘90s. He loved to spend his time trying his hand at carpentry and auto mechanics. In 2005, Neil joined his family in the 100 Mile House area. He enjoyed reading books about the Cariboo and its pioneer families. He will be sadly missed by his wife Elizabeth, daughter and son- in-law Karen and Brian, son and daughter-in-law Donald and Shirley, son Tommy - grandchildren - Jason, Lisa, Jaime-Lee, Meaghan, Justine and Jessica - great-grandchildren - Joseph, Riley, Connor, Noah, Emma, Alex, Alicia and Tyler. Neil often reminisced about his island home of South-Uist and had planned a trip there in June - his first since the ‘50s.
From the lonely shieling of the misty island, Mountains divide us and the waste of seas.
Yet still the blood is strong, the heart is highland... And we in dreams behold the Hebrides.
Condolences can be sent to the family at www.100milefuneralservice.com
100 Mile Funeral Service Ltd. entrusted with the arrangements. 395-3243