Mr. Wyvone O'Neal Jennings, Missouri Obituary

Mr. Wyvone O'Neal

<p>&nbsp;</p> <p style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size:14px;"><span style="font-family:times new roman,times,serif;"><strong>Older men are to be temperate, dignified, sensible,&nbsp;sound in faith, in love, in perseverance.&nbsp;Titus 2:2</strong></span></span></p> <p><strong>Wyvone O&rsquo;Neal,</strong> affectionally&nbsp;known as &ldquo;<strong>Neal</strong>,&rdquo; was born in Pickens, AR, on December 24, 1930, to James Henry and&nbsp;Josephine (McGruder) O&rsquo;Neal. He was the sixth of seven&nbsp;children born to this union. He was educated at public schools&nbsp;in Dumas, AR, and St. Louis, MO. <strong>Wyvone</strong> was inducted into&nbsp;the Army on March 20, 1951. He served in the Korean War,&nbsp;and through a solid science background and strong intellect,&nbsp;he was promoted in rank from Private 1st Class to Sergeant&nbsp;where his team recorded aerial map footage. He subsequently&nbsp;received an honorable discharge from Fort Sheridan in&nbsp;Illinois.</p> <p><br /> <strong>Wyvone</strong> possessed a strong work ethic. A er military service,&nbsp;he worked for the Chicago Transit Authority as an &ldquo;L&rdquo; train&nbsp;driver. He was a true entrepreneur. After obtaining his&nbsp;Barber&rsquo;s license, he left&nbsp;Chicago and moved to St. Louis where&nbsp;he met and married &nbsp;Thelma Woods and formed a blended&nbsp;family. To this union, three additional children were born.&nbsp;</p> <p>He was offered a position with St. Louis Car Company where&nbsp;he and his team built the elevator pod/passenger capsules that&nbsp;carried visitors to the top of the St. Louis Gateway Arch.</p> <p>When the Car Company ceased operations in 1974, his&nbsp;entrepreneurial spirit rose again, and he attended the&nbsp;Vatterott &amp; Sullivan Technical College, obtaining certi cation&nbsp;in Heating, Air Conditioning, and Refrigeration. His&nbsp;certification would be the catalyst upon which he founded&nbsp;O&rsquo;Neal&rsquo;s Heating and Cooling Company, serving the St. Louis&nbsp;and surrounding communities for more than 30 years.</p> <p><strong>Wyvone</strong> quietly departed this life &nbsp;ursday, April 14, 2022,&nbsp;at the Rouderbush Veterans Hospital in Indianapolis, IN. He&nbsp;was preceded in death by: his parents, James Henry O&rsquo;Neal&nbsp;and Josephine O&rsquo;Neal Watson; brother, James O&rsquo;Neal; sisters,&nbsp;Viola O&rsquo;Neal, Robezine Renfroe, Menzola Frazier, Willie&nbsp;Pearl Cox, and Burtie Lee Carter Scott; children, Kevin and&nbsp;Greta; and grandson, Christain Guynn. His in uence will&nbsp;forever remain in the lives of all who knew him.&nbsp;</p> <p><strong>Wyvone&rsquo;s</strong> wonderful long life will be cherished in the lives&nbsp;of his family: &nbsp;Thelma Glasper of Missouri, Martha Adrow&nbsp;O&rsquo;Neal of Arkansas, Mary Woods of Missouri, Lynette&nbsp;O&rsquo;Neal of Illinois, Raymond (Deborah) Crawford of South&nbsp;Dakota, Kirk Gant of Missouri, Edith O&rsquo;Neal of Missouri, Dr.&nbsp;Yvonne (Tunde) O&rsquo;Neal Allu of Indiana, and a host of devoted&nbsp;grandchildren, great-grandchildren, nieces, nephews, great-&nbsp;nieces and nephews, cousins, other extended family, and&nbsp;friends.</p>
December 24, 1930 - April 14, 202212/24/193004/14/2022
Share Obituary:

Share a memory

Add to your memory
Photos/Video
Candle
Mementos

Obituary

 

Older men are to be temperate, dignified, sensible, sound in faith, in love, in perseverance. Titus 2:2

Wyvone O’Neal, affectionally known as “Neal,” was born in Pickens, AR, on December 24, 1930, to James Henry and Josephine (McGruder) O’Neal. He was the sixth of seven children born to this union. He was educated at public schools in Dumas, AR, and St. Louis, MO. Wyvone was inducted into the Army on March 20, 1951. He served in the Korean War, and through a solid science background and strong intellect, he was promoted in rank from Private 1st Class to Sergeant where his team recorded aerial map footage. He subsequently received an honorable discharge from Fort Sheridan in Illinois.


Wyvone possessed a strong work ethic. A er military service, he worked for the Chicago Transit Authority as an “L” train driver. He was a true entrepreneur. After obtaining his Barber’s license, he left Chicago and moved to St. Louis where he met and married  Thelma Woods and formed a blended family. To this union, three additional children were born. 

He was offered a position with St. Louis Car Company where he and his team built the elevator pod/passenger capsules that carried visitors to the top of the St. Louis Gateway Arch.

When the Car Company ceased operations in 1974, his entrepreneurial spirit rose again, and he attended the Vatterott & Sullivan Technical College, obtaining certi cation in Heating, Air Conditioning, and Refrigeration. His certification would be the catalyst upon which he founded O’Neal’s Heating and Cooling Company, serving the St. Louis and surrounding communities for more than 30 years.

Wyvone quietly departed this life  ursday, April 14, 2022, at the Rouderbush Veterans Hospital in Indianapolis, IN. He was preceded in death by: his parents, James Henry O’Neal and Josephine O’Neal Watson; brother, James O’Neal; sisters, Viola O’Neal, Robezine Renfroe, Menzola Frazier, Willie Pearl Cox, and Burtie Lee Carter Scott; children, Kevin and Greta; and grandson, Christain Guynn. His in uence will forever remain in the lives of all who knew him. 

Wyvone’s wonderful long life will be cherished in the lives of his family:  Thelma Glasper of Missouri, Martha Adrow O’Neal of Arkansas, Mary Woods of Missouri, Lynette O’Neal of Illinois, Raymond (Deborah) Crawford of South Dakota, Kirk Gant of Missouri, Edith O’Neal of Missouri, Dr. Yvonne (Tunde) O’Neal Allu of Indiana, and a host of devoted grandchildren, great-grandchildren, nieces, nephews, great- nieces and nephews, cousins, other extended family, and friends.

To send flowers to the family or plant a tree in memory of Mr. Wyvone O'Neal please visit our Tribute Store.

Events

Apr
25
Interment
Monday, April 25 2022
10:00 AM
Jefferson Barracks National Cemetery
2900 Sheridan Road
Saint Louis, MO 63125
Get Directions
View MapTextEmail