Neil Ellis White was born on 10 August 1916 in Cleveland Texas, in Liberty County, to Kate and William A White. William was a businessman and the postmaster of Cleveland Texas and Kate ran a dress shop. Neil met and married Effie Green in Cleveland Texas. They had five children: Neil Jr, Judy, Debbie, Carolyn and Barbara. They lived on Sherman Street in Houston before settling in 1952 in Galena Park, Texas, where they were lucky enough to live across the street from Ralph and Meriam Riha.
Neil worked for the War Department (later the US Army, then the Department of Defense) for over 30 years, first as a truck driver and a dock worker, then as a foreman, and later as a logistics officer specializing in munitions. During WWII, Neil worked 18-hour days, loading ships in Houston with supplies headed to the Pacific. Later, shortly after the Texas City Disaster in 1947, Neil was one of a crew sent to Texas City to help clean up the mess. It wasn't until 40 years later that he told me that part of his job was to recover the bodies and take them to a make-shift morgue for identification. Neil was employed at the San Jacinto Ordnance Depot near Houston Texas until the late 1950s, when he worked along side officials from Washington DC to help close it down. He was tempted to take a DOD post in France, but opted instead to run a gas station in Galena Park, until he was offered a government job near Joliet Arsenal in Illinois. Neil's group was called ASPA which I think stood for Army Supply and Procurement Agency. In 1968, the family moved from Wilmington, Illinois, to Huntsville, Alabama, where Neil worked with Redstone Arsenal on the Safeguard Project, and where Effie was able to be closer to her family in and around Tuscaloosa, Alabama. Once all the children had left home, Neil took a job in Oxford Alabama for a short time, before retiring back to Huntsville.
Neil was a quiet man who worked hard and adored his wife. He enjoyed football, yardwork, car repair, country music, dog-training, and piling the family into the car to go to Zesto's for soft-served ice cream cones.
We are very lucky to have had this strong but kind man as our father.
Respectfully submitted,
Carolyn White Taylor
2023
Neil's parents gave him the middle name Ellis to honor the family of Rev Joseph HH Ellis, the Baptist minister who married them in 1899.
Rev Ellis had named his son Neal Ellis. My sister Judy told that Grandmother and Granddad liked the sound of that, but opted for a different spelling, so the name would be distinctly his own.
Rev JHH Ellis wrote the 1947 book, Sam Houston and Related Spiritual Forces. See more info on Rev. Ellis' memorial, 183342819.
Neil worked for the War Department (later the US Army, then the Department of Defense) for over 30 years, first as a truck driver and a dock worker, then as a foreman, and later as a logistics officer specializing in munitions. During WWII, Neil worked 18-hour days, loading ships in Houston with supplies headed to the Pacific. Later, shortly after the Texas City Disaster in 1947, Neil was one of a crew sent to Texas City to help clean up the mess. It wasn't until 40 years later that he told me that part of his job was to recover the bodies and take them to a make-shift morgue for identification. Neil was employed at the San Jacinto Ordnance Depot near Houston Texas until the late 1950s, when he worked along side officials from Washington DC to help close it down. He was tempted to take a DOD post in France, but opted instead to run a gas station in Galena Park, until he was offered a government job near Joliet Arsenal in Illinois. Neil's group was called ASPA which I think stood for Army Supply and Procurement Agency. In 1968, the family moved from Wilmington, Illinois, to Huntsville, Alabama, where Neil worked with Redstone Arsenal on the Safeguard Project, and where Effie was able to be closer to her family in and around Tuscaloosa, Alabama. Once all the children had left home, Neil took a job in Oxford Alabama for a short time, before retiring back to Huntsville.
Neil was a quiet man who worked hard and adored his wife. He enjoyed football, yardwork, car repair, country music, dog-training, and piling the family into the car to go to Zesto's for soft-served ice cream cones.
We are very lucky to have had this strong but kind man as our father.
Respectfully submitted,
Carolyn White Taylor
2023
Neil's parents gave him the middle name Ellis to honor the family of Rev Joseph HH Ellis, the Baptist minister who married them in 1899.
Rev Ellis had named his son Neal Ellis. My sister Judy told that Grandmother and Granddad liked the sound of that, but opted for a different spelling, so the name would be distinctly his own.
Rev JHH Ellis wrote the 1947 book, Sam Houston and Related Spiritual Forces. See more info on Rev. Ellis' memorial, 183342819.
Neil Ellis White was born on 10 August 1916 in Cleveland Texas, in Liberty County, to Kate and William A White. William was a businessman and the postmaster of Cleveland Texas and Kate ran a dress shop. Neil met and married Effie Green in Cleveland Texas. They had five children: Neil Jr, Judy, Debbie, Carolyn and Barbara. They lived on Sherman Street in Houston before settling in 1952 in Galena Park, Texas, where they were lucky enough to live across the street from Ralph and Meriam Riha.
Neil worked for the War Department (later the US Army, then the Department of Defense) for over 30 years, first as a truck driver and a dock worker, then as a foreman, and later as a logistics officer specializing in munitions. During WWII, Neil worked 18-hour days, loading ships in Houston with supplies headed to the Pacific. Later, shortly after the Texas City Disaster in 1947, Neil was one of a crew sent to Texas City to help clean up the mess. It wasn't until 40 years later that he told me that part of his job was to recover the bodies and take them to a make-shift morgue for identification. Neil was employed at the San Jacinto Ordnance Depot near Houston Texas until the late 1950s, when he worked along side officials from Washington DC to help close it down. He was tempted to take a DOD post in France, but opted instead to run a gas station in Galena Park, until he was offered a government job near Joliet Arsenal in Illinois. Neil's group was called ASPA which I think stood for Army Supply and Procurement Agency. In 1968, the family moved from Wilmington, Illinois, to Huntsville, Alabama, where Neil worked with Redstone Arsenal on the Safeguard Project, and where Effie was able to be closer to her family in and around Tuscaloosa, Alabama. Once all the children had left home, Neil took a job in Oxford Alabama for a short time, before retiring back to Huntsville.
Neil was a quiet man who worked hard and adored his wife. He enjoyed football, yardwork, car repair, country music, dog-training, and piling the family into the car to go to Zesto's for soft-served ice cream cones.
We are very lucky to have had this strong but kind man as our father.
Respectfully submitted,
Carolyn White Taylor
2023
Neil's parents gave him the middle name Ellis to honor the family of Rev Joseph HH Ellis, the Baptist minister who married them in 1899.
Rev Ellis had named his son Neal Ellis. My sister Judy told that Grandmother and Granddad liked the sound of that, but opted for a different spelling, so the name would be distinctly his own.
Rev JHH Ellis wrote the 1947 book, Sam Houston and Related Spiritual Forces. See more info on Rev. Ellis' memorial, 183342819.
Neil worked for the War Department (later the US Army, then the Department of Defense) for over 30 years, first as a truck driver and a dock worker, then as a foreman, and later as a logistics officer specializing in munitions. During WWII, Neil worked 18-hour days, loading ships in Houston with supplies headed to the Pacific. Later, shortly after the Texas City Disaster in 1947, Neil was one of a crew sent to Texas City to help clean up the mess. It wasn't until 40 years later that he told me that part of his job was to recover the bodies and take them to a make-shift morgue for identification. Neil was employed at the San Jacinto Ordnance Depot near Houston Texas until the late 1950s, when he worked along side officials from Washington DC to help close it down. He was tempted to take a DOD post in France, but opted instead to run a gas station in Galena Park, until he was offered a government job near Joliet Arsenal in Illinois. Neil's group was called ASPA which I think stood for Army Supply and Procurement Agency. In 1968, the family moved from Wilmington, Illinois, to Huntsville, Alabama, where Neil worked with Redstone Arsenal on the Safeguard Project, and where Effie was able to be closer to her family in and around Tuscaloosa, Alabama. Once all the children had left home, Neil took a job in Oxford Alabama for a short time, before retiring back to Huntsville.
Neil was a quiet man who worked hard and adored his wife. He enjoyed football, yardwork, car repair, country music, dog-training, and piling the family into the car to go to Zesto's for soft-served ice cream cones.
We are very lucky to have had this strong but kind man as our father.
Respectfully submitted,
Carolyn White Taylor
2023
Neil's parents gave him the middle name Ellis to honor the family of Rev Joseph HH Ellis, the Baptist minister who married them in 1899.
Rev Ellis had named his son Neal Ellis. My sister Judy told that Grandmother and Granddad liked the sound of that, but opted for a different spelling, so the name would be distinctly his own.
Rev JHH Ellis wrote the 1947 book, Sam Houston and Related Spiritual Forces. See more info on Rev. Ellis' memorial, 183342819.
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