Jack Neely, 74, passed away unexpectedly at home on Sunday, October 12, 2025. The son of James Neely and Harriet (Blair) Neely, he was born in St. Augustine, Florida, where his father was stationed during the Korean War, and said his earliest memory was driving away from the house in Florida with a toy alligator in his hand to move back to Springfield when he was just over one year old.

Growing up in Springfield with brother David and sister Ann, Jack was raised with an appreciation for books, reading, and music. His father taught him about many things mechanical and electrical, and passed on a love of sports. Grandfather Everett Neely imparted a love of chess and card games, gardening, and history. On grandmother Elizabeth Blair’s dairy farm, he spent time enjoying nature and the outdoors, and learning how to be goofy from his Crazy Aunt Suzie. He was active in the youth group at First and Calvary Presbyterian Church, and in Boy Scouts where he earned his Eagle Scout badge and worked as staff at Camp Arrowhead.

As his parents and much of the extended family had, Jack attended Greenwood Laboratory School from kindergarten through high school. He played flute and oboe in the band and excelled in multiple sports as well as academics and extracurriculars, a fact that was commemorated in song by his younger sister and her friend when they received an assignment in 9^th grade to write a biography of “someone famous.” Jack graduated in 1969 as the valedictorian of his class and received a prestigious scholarship to study physics at Washington University in St. Louis.

The summer before his senior year of college he worked for the Presbyterian retreat center at Ghost Ranch in Abiquiu, New Mexico, where he made many close, lifelong friends. On his way back home at the end of the summer he gave Sharol Higgins a ride back to her home in Oklahoma and they bonded on the long drive. The next year, Jack, Sharol, and three other friends from Ghost Ranch made a plan to live together somewhere and chose Madison, Wisconsin. In Madison, they made more wonderful friends and Jack worked various jobs, enjoyed the music scene, studied psychology at the University of Wisconsin, and began a genealogy research project that he would continue the rest of his life.

In 1979, Jack and Sharol were married at her hometown church in Hominy, Oklahoma, with another friend from Ghost Ranch, Thad Holcombe, presiding. They moved into an old farmhouse on Granny Blair’s farm at the edge of Springfield and with the help of family and friends began renovating it, planting a garden, and building a life together. Their first child, John, was born in 1981 and Jack stayed home to care for him until he was old enough for preschool. The family joined Southminster Presbyterian Church, and Jack and Sharol began a long involvement with the Ozarks Genealogical Society. Daughter Mary was born in 1988 and Daddy Jack quietly but joyfully passed his love of literature, music, art, games, nature, and delightful, if questionable, puns on to his children, and even sometimes let Mary play with his beard.

At MSU (then Southwest Missouri State University) Jack finished his psychology degree, completed a second bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, and worked at Meyer Library. In 1989 he joined Sharol working for the Springfield-Greene County Library, as a system administrator running the computer catalog. In that role, Jack was involved in starting one of the first home internet providers in the area, the Ozarks Regional Information Online Network (ORION), and showed young John how to fold the edges of dot matrix printer paper into accordions while he was waiting for his dad to start the overnight batch jobs. Jack completed a Master’s Degree in Library Science from the University of Missouri in 1995. He liked to say that in studying psychology, computer science, and librarianship, he was learning about the different ways that humans process information. He moved to a job as Reference Librarian, serving the Main (now Midtown), Library Center, and Library Station branches, and retired in 2015 after 25 years with the public library.

In 2008 Sharol became disabled as the result of an illness, and Jack took on another role as a devoted and steadfast caregiver. He also became a delighted and loving grandpa to Sam and Aaron, finding another generation to quietly introduce to the wonders of the world, from banjos to old maps to Formula One cars. As he grew older, Jack began ceding the caregiver job to Mary but he remained the calm, loving center of the family.

Jack was a man of few words, but when he did speak, what he said could be counted on to be insightful, incredibly funny, or extremely loving and sweet, frequently all at the same time. His stoic exterior belied a real sense of awe and appreciation for the world, and he was especially happy to impart his love of the land of the Ozarks and of music to his grandchildren. He loved learning, not just for the sake of knowledge itself, but in service of showing love to those he loved. Whether it was introducing his grandchildren to music he knew they’d like, getting his family hooked on a variety of obscure sports, or making an exhaustive, color-coded database of the library’s audiobook offerings for his wife to read, he radiated steadiness, care, and love in his own quiet way. His family will recognize his spirit and presence in the land he loved, in the strength and kindness of his children, in the moments when someone delivers a perfect punchline, in the joy of song, and in the spunk and spark of his grandchildren.

Preceded in death by his parents; and his older brother David, Jack is survived by his beloved wife, Sharol, of Springfield; his son, John Neely (Hannah); and grandchildren Sam and Aaron, all of Minneapolis, MN; his daughter Mary Neely (Doug Riddle) of Springfield; his sister Ann Collard (John) of Springfield; his aunt Suzanne Blair, of Springfield; numerous cousins and nieces and nephews; and many friends and family in the Springfield-Greene County library system.

His family wishes to especially thank his caregiver Kasee McLaughlin, whose endless patience, no-nonsense manner, and excellent sense of humor allowed Jack to accept far more help than he would otherwise be inclined to; and Maria Nelson, who has helped the family in countless ways.

A Celebration of Life will be held at 2:00 p.m., Wednesday, October 22, 2025, at Greenlawn Funeral Home East, 3540 E. Seminole, in Springfield, MO.

In lieu of flowers, his family asks that you remember him with memorial contributions to two places close to his heart: The Springfield-Greene County Library Foundation, 4653 S. Campbell Ave., Springfield, MO 65810, https://www.thelibrary.org/library-foundation and KSMU, 901 South National Ave. Springfield, MO 65897, https://www.ksmu.org/.