Obituary for Ed O’Neill

Ed O’Neill

August 18, 1935 – January 30, 2021

Ed O’Neill, a life-long Ponca City resident, died at his home surrounded by family on Saturday, January 30, 2021. This ended a valiant and hard-fought battle against esophageal cancer. Arrangements are under the direction of Trout Funeral Home & Crematory, 505 W. Grand Ave., Ponca City, OK 74601.

A rosary service will be held at 6:00 PM, on Friday, February 5th at Trout Funeral Home with Deacon Dick Robinson from St. Mary’s Catholic Church officiating. Mass of Christian Burial will be held Saturday, February 6th at 10:00 AM, St. Mary’s Catholic Church with Rev. Carson Krittenbrink as celebrant. Face masks are required. Those unable to attend the Mass may attend virtually on the Trout Funeral Home website, www.troutfuneralhome.com. Click on the “live-stream” or toolbar icon on the top right corner after 9:45 AM.

Casket bearers will be grandsons, Ryan Meyer, Blake O’Neill, Adam O’Neill, Wesley O’Neill and nephews, John O’Neill and Brian O’Neill. Honorary casket bears are grandsons-in-laws Mike Perry, Adam Slatterly, Derek Dotson, James Moore, Kyle Miller and Steve Bowman.

Ed was the first-born child of Ernest O’Neill, an early settler to Osage Indian Territory, and Hilda Kreidler O’Neill, an Osage County school teacher, on August 18, 1935. Their family operated a dairy farm on the Arkansas River in the Osage. Ed was an inquisitive child and at an early age, developed his life-long passions for cars (until his death he tracked monthly new car sales), baseball (St. Louis Cardinals) and country music (classic country only). Ed attended St. Mary’s School, graduating in 1953. Ed was a member of the State Catholic basketball champs in 1952 and 1953. He was very active in 4-H and was the 1953 National Field Crops Winner at 4-H Congress in Chicago.

He met the love of his life in 8th grade at St. Mary’s. He and JoAnn Zimmerman were high school sweethearts and married in 1955. They were married for 62 years before her death in 2017. Their marriage was a great love story – a city girl, meeting a country boy. They enjoyed yearly visits to St. Louis to watch their Cardinals while making a detour through Branson, going to dances and music shows, never missing a Les Gilliam concert, and traveling as much as they could. Ed never met a backcountry road that he wasn’t afraid to go down. His theory – you never know what you are going to find and many a story came about from his travels through back roads across the USA.

Ed and his younger brother, Jimmy, assumed ownership of the dairy farm when their father died in 1959. With the help of their mother and three special mentors, C. A. Marchesoni, Marvin Anderson and LeRoy Speakman, they developed one of the highest producing herds of Registered Holsteins in the area. Ed was always willing to use progressive methods, utilizing state of the art equipment in irrigation, mechanized feeding systems, and herd development. Their farm was the site of numerous dairy field days showing the newest methods of dairying.

As a child of the Great Depression, Ed was an extremely hard worker. Not only a dairyman and farmer, he was a Farmers Union insurance agent and a Surge dairy equipment dealer. In is spare time he was an assistant basketball coach for St. Mary’s High School and very involved with his sons’ sports careers. He also was on the school board for St. Mary’s/Unity High School. Anyone that has played sports at Unity Gym owes thanks to Ed. He was the driving force to build Unity gym, determined his children would have better facilities than he played at St. Mary’s. His depression upbringing led to a life of frugality, but he was also known for his generous giving to others – especially to those down on their luck.

Ed is survived by: daughter, Karen and husband Curtis Meyer of Ponca City; sons, Mickey and wife, Melissa, of Oklahoma City, Gary and wife, Darla, of Oklahoma City, and Dale and wife, Carla, of Ponca City. He is also survived by ten grandchildren, seven great-grandchildren, and friend, Lexyle Frost.

He is also survived by brother Jimmy O’Neill and wife Pauline, Ponca City, OK, sister Libby Long, Sedan, KS and brother-in-law Clete Zimmerman and wife Mary Ann, Houston, TX.

In lieu of flowers, memorials are established with St. Mary’s School Foundation, 415 S. Seventh St, Ponca City, OK; and Hospice of North Central Oklahoma, 445 Fairview, Ponca City, OK.

With grateful hearts, the family would like to thank Hospice of North Central Oklahoma and his caregivers, Debby Fleharty, Melissa Higgins, Beth Reeves and Nannette Bufford.

Source: Trout Funeral Home