GORHAM – Barbara Neal was a devoted wife, mother of three and friend to many. Another role she took pride in was as “backup singer” for Reba McEntire.

Mrs. Neal’s church choir was chosen to sing with the country star in a performance in Portland several years ago. A picture of McEntire with her arm around Mrs. Neal was something that brought the Gorham woman joy in her final days, said one of her three sons, Stephen Neal of Scarborough.

Mrs. Neal, 82, died from a brain tumor Thursday — three days after her birthday.

Mrs. Neal grew up in Bar Harbor, moved south to attend Gorham State Teachers College, and never left.

She met her husband, Paul, while in college.

“He was a townie,” said Stephen Neal, who said he suspected his mother was the one to approach his father when they met at a party.

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“She was very social, very vivacious, always smiling — her whole life,” he said.

Mrs. Neal worked for 27 years as the principal’s secretary at Charles C. Shaw Junior High School in Gorham. She decided not to be a teacher because she wanted to spend all of her time after work with her three sons, and not preparing for class the next day, her son said.

At the junior high, Mrs. Neal got to know many students as they sat and waited to see the principal because they had gotten into trouble.

“She would counsel them, let them feel like they were OK,” her son said.

After retiring, Mrs. Neal and her husband traveled throughout the United States and Europe with their choir from First Parish Congregational Church in Gorham.

They also enjoyed sitting by the picture window at their home in Gorham and watching turkeys and deer emerge from the woods. Stephen Neal said his mother loved wildlife.

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“If her bird feeders were empty, that was a real problem,” he said.

She also loved people and attracted many friends with her positive attitude and constant smile.

“She was a magnet. She was a social butterfly,” he said.

Mrs. Neal is survived by her husband; three sons, Stuart, Stephen and Clifford; four granddaughters; two step-grandchildren and a step-great-granddaughter.

Before she died, she had been knitting a sweater for a great-grandson expected in June.

Staff Writer Leslie Bridgers can be contacted at: 791-6364 or at

lbridgers@mainetoday.com

 


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