Joanie C. Neil
Active Claremont volunteer, natural saleswoman  

Longtime Claremont resident Joanie Carrol Neil “had her fingers in all kinds of things,” said her 20-year friend, Marilyn Anderson. Growing boysenberries and making homemade fruit rollups; selling vitamins and water purifiers; campaigning for Corey Calaycay; recruiting for Active Claremont; rescuing homeless cats; planting drought-tolerant plants and pushing people to recycle—her passions and activities ran the gamut.

Though varied in her interests, friends and family shared that Ms. Neil’s personality took on a more uniform nature: she held strong opinions but practiced tact in expressing them.   

“She was a very unique person,” began Ms. Anderson. “She had very strong feelings and opinions on things, but she was also extremely diplomatic about things. I never once recall hearing her gossip or put anyone down even though she had very strong feelings and she might have disagreed with someone 100 percent. She was very diplomatic with how she dealt with people.”

“She was very set in her ways, set in her opinion,” said her brother, Larry Wilkins. “A lot of times, if you disagreed with her, she’d tell you exactly what was on her mind.”

At age 69, under the care of the Visiting Nurse Association and Hospice of Southern California, Ms. Neil died at her Claremont home.

She was born on August 20, 1939 in Detroit, Michigan to Milton and Anna (Frank) Wilkins. After graduating from high school in Michigan, she moved to California and settled in Claremont.

“She didn’t like the cold weather here in Michigan,” said her brother.

With her gregarious personality, Ms. Neil succeeded in a variety of sales-related jobs during her life, including selling “Vitality” vitamins and health products, selling miscellaneous items at the LA County Fair and demonstrating an assortment of products in stores.

She was also very engaged in community volunteerism and devoted a significant amount of time to Active Claremont. Her outgoing spirit lent itself well to building support for this group. 

“She never missed an opportunity to recruit new members to Active Claremont,” commented her friend, Valerie Gustaveson. “She’d meet new people and have a handful of brochures with her, and she’d get people to join.”

“One of the marvelous things about Joanie was if you ever needed any recruiting done or anything like that, she was not afraid to walk right up to people and introduce herself and bring them along for the cause,” remarked Ms. Anderson.

Gardening was one of Ms. Neil’s favorite activities, and friends and neighbors were frequently the happy recipients of her bountiful harvests. She also enjoyed playing pinochle at the Joslyn Senior Center.

Precious to Ms. Neil was her pet, Sugar, a cat she rescued.

“It was either the humane society or Joanie, and it was Joanie,” said Ms. Gustaveson. “Oh, she loved that cat.”

Ms. Neil is survived by her brother and sister-in-law, Larry and Shirley Wilkins of Cleo, Michigan; her 3 nieces, Charlotte Weber, Crystal Kiser and Tammy MacKay; her sister-in-law, Sharon Schafer and her husband, Jerry; her uncle, Jack Wilkins and his wife, Beulah; and by her special friends, Marilyn Anderson, Darleen Rota, Valerie Gustaveson and Nelvia Schroeder. She was preceded in death by her brother, Bruce Wilkins.

Ms. Neil was cremated and private services will be held.

Memorial contributions may be made to Stray Cat Alliance, P.O. Box 491214, Los Angeles, CA 90049; or to the Salvation Army.