William NEILL

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NEILL: William (Dennis, Den, Uncle Buck) Neill, born in Brandon, Manitoba on October 21, 1937 (age zero), and passed in Penticton, B.C on May 9, 2012 (age 74). Dennis reunites with his brothers, Barry and Pat, and parents Celia and Jim. What a ride! (his words)Life was well until August 2010 when cancer invaded. Dennis was truly brave and endured all of the recommended treatments. Right to the very end he maintained his solid mind, fantastic spirit and sense of humour. A special thanks to Dr. Tim Phillips who refused to give up. Dennis joined the RCMP in 1957, but left only three years later after a tragic event with one of his partners. During the time in service he made numerous friends (U Troops) who he remained in touch with ever since. He lived his life mostly as a bachelor and had a passion for sales and people. He called New Zealand home for a few years where he built many close relationships. He was later sales manager for Alberta Distillers and then at the Royal Towers in New Westminster (remember the Brandon Boys annuals there?) and finally the Penticton Inn. In his retirement years, and seeing as he was single and childless (at least as far as we know!), Dennis was once tasked with looking after his nephew's two children age 10 and 12 in Kelowna for a week. The outcome was predictable and inevitably he became known as Uncle Buck. Den provided us a draft of his obituary a week before passing. He signed it, The Buck stops here... Love Dennis. Dennis will forever be part of the fun and warm memories shared by many. In that sense, he is still with us, and perhaps doing the infamous rolling of those eyes. A celebration will be held on Saturday June 2nd in Kelowna at Michele and Michael Neill's home. Please call 250-212-3814 if you would like to join us.

As published in Brandon Sun on May 19, 2012