Frederick L. “Lee” O’Neill, of Manhattan, died Friday November 17, 2023 at the Collins House at Meadowlark Hills Retirement Community in Manhattan. He was 98 years old.
He was born May 5, 1925 at home on the farm near Alma, Kansas, the son of Robert and Sarah (Crider) O’Neill, along with his two brothers and three sisters.
Lee attended area rural schools, graduating from Leonardville High School in 1943. He contracted polio immediately thereafter. It kept him from service in WWII and delayed his enrollment in college. After one year at Kansas State, he attended Pittsburg State, graduating in 1950 with a degree in business.
He worked for Western Auto until he was invited to serve in the Korean War. He was stationed at Fitzsimmons Army Hospital in Denver, Colorado for two years, where he met and married Emma Loreta Martendale of Boise, Idaho. Their family eventually grew to include a son and two daughters.
After his military service, Lee worked for Standard Oil and General Foods, until enrolling at the University of Idaho to earn a Master’s Degree in Educational Administration. He then worked in registrar, admissions, and research positions at the University of Idaho.
A plan for a one-year family travel by trailer was cut short when they settled in a remote area of British Columbia, Canada. Lee operated as a guide-outfitter for hunting and fishing, and he also had summer youth camps.
With his children getting older and marriage ending, the Canadian property and business were sold and Lee returned to Kansas. He was then married to Carol Faulconer Harris in 1985. He went to work as Assistant to the Graduate Dean at Kansas State University until his retirement in 1991.
Lee took pride in extensive floral and gardening, and caring for the birds, squirrels and calico cats. He enjoyed watching the KSU Wildcat Women’s Basketball Team. Lee loved to travel, especially between his Kansas and Canadian families’ and a tour of Ireland and Scotland in 1985. He was proud of his Irish heritage, which manifested in his love of singing, conversation, and storytelling - stories that often grew in the re-telling. He was an accomplished dancer. He and Carol met at a dance and dancing filled many hours of their life together.
Lee was preceded in death by his parents; his sisters, Mary Howard (Orville), Ella May Howard (Frank), and Violet Haffener; his brothers, Robert O’Neill (Kathleen), and Frank O’Neill (Coe); and his first wife Lorri O’Neill.
In British Columbia, Canada, Lee is survived by his son Michael O’Neill (Jill), daughter Linda O’Neill, daughter Nancy O’Neill (Max Sherwood); three grandchildren: Jesse (Michaela), David, and Danielle O’Neill; three great-grandchildren: Alexis, Violet, and Archer O’Neill.
He also leaves his wife Carol; and Carol’s children, daughter Laura Harris (Linda Curd), of Lexington, Kentucky, daughter Charlotte Harris, of Phoenix, Arizona, and son Steve Harris, of Kansas City, Missouri; and granddaughter, Jaedyn Harris, of Richmond, Missouri.
Lee’s “farewell party” will be held on Monday November 27, 2023. His wishes were to be cremated. Inurnment will be held at 10:00 a.m. at the Sunset Cemetery in Manhattan, on the O’Neill gravesite. Celebration of life service will be held at 11:00 a.m. at the College Avenue United Methodist Church, 1609 College Avenue, Manhattan, Kansas, with Rev. John Collins officiating. A reception will follow the services at the church in the fellowship hall.
Lee was blessed to be in excellent and loving care at the Collins House at Meadowlark Hills through the last difficult years of his illness. Memorial contributions in memory of Lee may be made to the Good Samaritan Fund at Meadowlark Hills. Contributions may be sent in care of the Yorgensen-Meloan-Londeen Funeral Home, 1616 Poyntz Avenue, Manhattan, Kansas 66502.
Online condolences may be left for the family through the funeral home website at www.ymlfuneralhome.com