Melba Neel

Melba Louise Williams Neel

Born October 12, 1937 in Plainview, Texas, to Stella and T.B Williams.
Growing up in the Panhandle of Texas, Melba spent 12 years in the Plainview school system, graduating from Plainview High School in 1956. She went on to attend college at West Texas State before graduating in 1960 with a degree in Home Economics Education. It was there at West Texas State she met her love, DeWayne Neel. They were married August 19, 1957. Fast forward some years, and in 1968, with three kids in tow, DeWayne and Melba moved to Idaho Springs, Colorado. Her love of education and desire to learn continued and she received a Masters degree in Elementary Education from the University of Northern Colorado, and a Masters degree in counseling from the University of Colorado. She taught in the public schools systems in Lubbock, Texas and Idaho Springs, Colorado. She spent 24 years at West Jefferson Elementary in Conifer where she was a role model and leader to many within the school system; actively training, instructing and supervising new teachers.
Her passion for helping others continued in the church. Melba’s entire life was spent teaching bible classes to children, including numerous VBS programs, as well as mentoring other teachers. She was selected as Mountain Area Teacher of the Year and named Conifer Women of the year for her community work.
Melba retired in 1998 after 26 years of teaching, but continued to give back through volunteer work at the Conifer Mountain Resource Center, and the community planning group that supported the mountain area.
She enjoyed seeing the world with DeWayne, and the two traveled to Europe, Africa, Thailand, Japan and South America. They made countless friends along the way, some they’ve even
stayed in touch with to this day. She loved sharing stories of her travels with her grandchildren, and they shared their passions with her. Baseball, basketball, theatre, cheer, lacrosse (just to name a few!) and she never missed a big game or competition. She always cheered on her Denver Broncos too.
In lieu of flowers, please make a donation to your favorite charity.