Obituary for April 9

Published 11:27 pm Saturday, April 8, 2006

Louise Driver Neely

HAZEL GREEN, Ala. — Louise Driver Neely, 83, died Tuesday, March 14, 2006, at Agape Village in Hazel Green, Ala.

Born July 24, 1922, in Colquitt County, she moved to Jacksonville, Fla., after the beginning of World War II and supported her country as a welder at the Jacksonville Ship Yards, swinging out over the edge of the ships in a harness to mend the war-damaged hulls of the returning ships. After her welding unit backfired and burned off her eyebrows and eyelashes, she decided to become a telephone operator for “Information Please” and “Long Distance.” She met her future husband, Ted Neely, toward the end of the war on a blind date and their love grew through their letters. When the war ended, they married in Lyons, Miss., on Nov. 22, 1946.

She took on the occupation of wife and mother and excelled not only with cooking but sewing as well, her family said. She and her husband moved to Columbus, Miss., in 1961. She was a member of East End Baptist Church and the Order of the Eastern Star and a long time member of Broadacres Homemakers Club in Columbus. She won numerous ribbons for her garment sewing, quilting and canning.

She was preceded in death by her husband, Clyde Edward “Ted” Neely; her parents, Elijah Franklin and Exie Plymel Driver; brothers, Vernon Driver and E.F. “Junior” Driver; and sisters, Ruschie Driver Woodall, Nadine Driver Thurman and Lillian Driver.

Survivors include her devoted daughters, Wanda Phillips and her husband Ron of Huntsville, Ala., and Bonny Savelle and her husband Winston of LaGrange, Ga.; her loving grandchildren, Amanda Phillips Knothe and her husband Tommy of Copperas Cove, Texas, and Trey Savelle of Athens, Ga.; and a sister, Sarah Ray of Jacksonville, Fla.