Iain Alexander Fulton Mcneil

Iain Alexander Fulton McNeil, 79, a longtime engineer and project manager, peacefully passed Friday, October 28th, 2022, after a short battle with lung cancer. Iain was well traveled, starting his life in Liverpool, England. He was born July 15th, 1943, to parents, Alexander McNeil, and Nora Boardman. Not much was known about his childhood aside from the fact that he learned his love of nature, and handiwork from his father. He shared his childhood with a brother, Duncan McNeil. Iain had an adventurous side, favoring the Lake District on England where he had many small jobs as a lifeguard, climber etc. Around the time he turned 18, Iain started working for Shell, where he began to find a life and career for himself. At the age of 37 he had his first child, a boy named Andrew, two years later in 1982 he had a daughter named Ellie. Always traveling, Iain began to create a name for himself at Shell, becoming the head of materials and supplies. Earning himself the equivalent to a bachelor’s degree, he began to yearn for more and decided to branch into independent engineering contracting where he worked closely with the son of one of Shell’s main producers, Ken Wong. Iain and Ken were extremely close as Iain lived out his dream of travel to the fullest. Iain got to experience the many beauties that the world has to offer so early in his life. Following this dream, Iain found himself working for Pilkington glass in the mid 1990’s ultimately becoming the director of procurement for North and South America. Iain then met another one of his closest friends, Denny Herr, who became like a brother to him, similarly, to Ken. After moving to America in 1999 he met his wife, Karen McNeil, and it was love upon first meeting. For several years Iain continued his dream of travel until 2003 when Karen gave birth to his third child, Chas. Iain always regretted how much he traveled, when raising Andrew and Ellie, so at the age of 60 he gave it one last shot. In America Iain found much more freedom, so he finally settled down with Karen and Chas. The love for travel still lingered in Iain’s mind which caused him to take a new job for Corning Glass. Taking jobs in Corning New York were fun for Iain but his favorite stay was in Taiwan where he and Denny worked on a glass plant. After finishing this project, Iain turned down future offers by corning and decided that he wanted to stay local. He along with some old colleagues, Terry Potter, and his son Jeff, revived the old Potter Technologies company that Jeff started years before Iain joined Corning. Iain felt a calling to change the world, so Jeff invited him to join a new company, SkyLife Technologies. Here Iain began to create prototypes for humanitarian aid, working with the World Food Program as well as working again with Ken Wong, and earning himself a patent for the SkyLife skypacks which were packets that would float off a plane or helicopter and deliver fresh water or food via plastic packs that would gently float to the ground. This eliminated the need for ground transport during disasters which could be subject to tampering. Iain greatly enjoyed this job because he got the chance to fully raise Chas, while also being fully invested in the project. In 2016 Iain welcomed his first grandchild into this world, Harry Humphries, Ellie’s, and her partner Dave’s son. Iain still maintained great communication with Andrew and Ellie however he wanted to spend more time with his grandchild. He traveled back to his home country several times to see the whole family together. In 2020 Iain took a step away from SkyLife and decided that being retired was not so bad. He did projects around the house during COVID, and woodworked, which was one of his passions earlier in life. Iain was extremely happy with his life and the news got even better in 2020 when his second grandson, Arthur, Andrew’s, and his fiancé Katy’s son was born. Iain never wanted to stop helping people so in late 2021 he got a job at Ace hardware to help people that he new around town. Iain is survived by his three children, Chas, Andrew (Katy), and Ellie McNeil (Dave), his brother, Duncan McNeil (Karina), his honorary brothers, Denny Herr and Ken Wong, his beautiful grandchildren, Harry Humphreys, and Arthur McNeil, and most of all his loving wife, Karen McNeil. The family has nothing but upmost respect for the loving kind man who knew half of the world but cared the most for his family. He will be missed.

Friends will be received on Friday, November 4th, 2022, from 2-8 p.m. at Walker Funeral Home, 5155 W. Sylvania Avenue, Toledo, OH 43623. A Memorial Mass will be held on Saturday, November 5th, 2022, beginning at 11 a.m. at St. Joseph Catholic Church, 5373 Main Street, Sylvania, OH 43623. The burial will be private.