Born:

Erna Brown Neill, long time Oak Ridge resident, died on Thursday, August 30, 2007 at Parkwest Medical Center following a stroke.

Born in Hawkins County, TN on August 25, 1921, she was one of the ten children of James A. Garfield Brown and Luda Florence Berry Brown. Both parents died when Erna was very young. She and the other youngest siblings were raised in the Odd Fellows Home in Clarksville, TN. After graduating from Clarksville High School, she began nursing studies. She was in the cadet nursing program at Ft. Sanders, Knoxville, when she met a young engineer from California, Frank Neill, who was working on the Manhattan Project. They married on March 22, 1945 and made Oak Ridge their home.

Mrs. Neill worked as a nurse at the old Oak Ridge Hospital, volunteered her nursing skills for the American Red Cross, and worked with Planned Parenthood of Oak Ridge. She was a charter member of First Christian Church, Oak Ridge and was very active there for many years.

She was preceded in death her husband, Frank Neill. She is survived by one sister, Mauvealine LaMarr of Fortuna, CA; her son, Richard and wife Barbara, Oak Ridge and Galliano, LA; her daughter, Barbara and husband Larry Jones, Portland, Oregon. She is also survived by four grandchildren; Sara Kathryn Neill,


Oak Ridge; Christopher Neill-Jones and wife Ruth, Portland, Oregon; Damien Neill-Jones, Portland Oregon: Nicholas Neill-Jones, stationed in Iraq and wife Dina; and two great grandchildren, Kylie and Isaac Neill-Jones.

The family will greet friends at Martin’s Funeral Home, Oak Ridge on Monday, September 3rd from 6:00 to 8:00 p.m. Funeral services will be at 10:00 am, Tuesday, September 4, 2007, at St. Stephen’s Episcopal Church, Oak Ridge. The service will be conducted by the Reverend L. Bailey Norman with the Reverend Jesse Bradshaw speaking. Burial will follow at the Oak Ridge Memorial Park. The honorary pallbearers will be the men of First Christian Church. .

Memorial remembrances are suggested to the building fund of First Christian Church, 116 E. Division Road, Oak Ridge, TN 37830; the scholarship fund of St. Stephen’s Episcopal Church, 212 N. Tulane Ave, Oak Ridge, TN 37830; or the American Diabetes Association, 211 Center Park Drive, Ste 3010, Knoxville, TN 37922.