Roderick Malcolm McNeil

June 3, 1944 – August 31, 2025

Proud Veteran, Renegade, Rabble Rouser, Entrepreneur, World Traveler, Political Scholar, Husband, Dad, Pawpaw, Brother, Friend and “Piece of Work”.

Our dear dad left this world as the real-life Dos Equis guy…he rode his motorcycle all through Afghanistan in the 60s, taught English in Malaysia with the Peace Corps and enlisted in Vietnam so his older and younger brother would not be drafted…all with pictures to prove it!

He came into our lives in 1972, when he began dating our mom. With Oreo cookies in tow, he quickly became the steady force our lives so desperately needed. He just simply was always there.

We won’t say he was a conventional dad…He parked his Harley in our living room, made our lunches for school, usually cutting the sandwich into 12 pieces or some other embarrassing and crazy surprise in our Robin Hood and Donny Osmond lunch boxes. The only time he wore a suit, was for Halloween when he wore a 3-piece gray suit with Ziploc bags of flour hanging out of his pockets. He was John DeLorean…google it

He was an owner of nightclubs, the first few not exactly known for their wholesome reputation…these establishments were also the places my sister and I spent our afterschool hours and Saturday afternoons, becoming pinball wizards and pool sharks. We were also quite the dancers to the afternoon jukebox.

He was a fierce defender of justice for the underdog and the victimized…a peaceful vigilante.

He took us to Girl Scouts, taught us to change a tire and I suppose you could say he taught us to drive a stick shift, which consisted of pointing to the clutch and saying see you at home. He taught us to throw a ball, snake a drain and to be unreasonably generous to those who just needed it more than we did.

In 1978, he bought an old movie theatre in Detroit Michigan and with his own hands rebuilt it into the largest, and one of the most well-known rock & roll nightclubs in the United States in the late 70’s and early 80’s - Harpos Concert Theatre.

He moved to Texas in 1986 with his daughters right behind him.

He met his second wife Sondra in 1996. They would become best friends and companions until the end of his life. Sondra’s care for him the last year of his life was a remarkable testament of her love for him. It was unimaginably hard, and we are forever grateful.

The true loves of his life were his grandsons Isaiah and Sam. His house was the place they could find an endless supply of Dove ice cream bars, individually wrapped wintergreen lifesavers, a Costco size bucket of cheese balls and unconditional acceptance.

He taught them how to drink Guiness far too early, watch ridiculously scary movies, love the Dallas Cowboys and forgive at an unfathomable level.

He is preceded in death by his parents Roderick and Anne McNeil, his brother Mike, the fallen brotherhood of Vietnam veterans, his lifelong best friend Dennis Felix, and his last best friend Bud Jostrand. These last two are the reason there was a run on Jack Daniels in heaven on August 31st…

He leaves behind his devoted wife Sondra McNeil, grateful adoring daughters Erin (Brandon), and Colleen (Jay) and his hero-worshipping grandsons Isaiah and Sam. He also leaves his brother Dennis and the cherished relationships with his brothers in law, Jim & Dave.

His life was a harmonized dichotomy of desperately needing Jesus and being the embodiment of WWJD.

In lieu of flowers and donations the family requests something far harder than that – please be ridiculously generous to someone who needs it more than you and forgive the unforgiveable in honor of how he lived his life.

Godspeed dad – you were quite simply the hero of our story - we will see you again, under the largest tree in heaven…

Services:

September 16th 10:30am at All Saints Catholic Church www.allsaintsdallas.org (Livestream available)

Immediately followed by lunch hosted by the family at: Uncle Julios Tollway/Keller Springs