IanNEALEIan Neale of Mesa, Arizona, died peacefully at home July 25, 2023. He was born in his mother's hometown of Edinburgh, Scotland at the end of the Second World War while his parents, Harry and Elena Neale, were still serving in the British Army. Like his father and grandfather, Ian was a Swansea boy from South Wales. As a teenager, he joined the Royal Air Training Corps and learned to fly gliders before graduating to the de Havilland Chipmunk and Gloucester Meteor. From 1965-1967 Ian was the first Welshman to serve on a mission for the LDS church in Finland, a country he grew to love and would visit many times throughout his life. Ian emigrated to the United States in 1969 to attend BYU, where he had the distinction of serving as ombudsman. In 1970 he married Louise Turley Neale with whom he raised four sons and one daughter in Mesa, Arizona. Ian earned his JD from ASU law school and passed the bar exam in 1978. He found his professional home in 1979 at Burch & Cracchiolo, where he was still practicing law with his beloved B & C colleagues of many years at the time of his death. His clients included Bashas' supermarkets and the school trust, and he tried more than 100 cases before a jury or bench. Ian volunteered with the Centre for International Legal Studies, helping aspiring lawyers learn their craft in Serbia, Mongolia, Ukraine, and Latvia. An avid traveller and fly fisherman, Ian hiked the foothills of Mount Everest, visited the South Pole, and camped and hiked all over Arizona and the Southwest but perhaps felt most content in his cottage in Wales. He was a gifted and inspirational teacher and loved working with high school students in Sunday school. His children and grandchildren will always remember his singing, Brave Little Duck stories, and love of sweets. In later years he doted on his granddaughters who lovingly remember him as "Rada". Ian is survived by his five children, Harry (Katherine), Polly (Jesse), Michael (Allison), David, and James; granddaughters, Betsy and Willa; and sisters, Jean and Nora. He was preceded in death by his father, Harry and mother, Elena. Ian is going home to Swansea town where he will be laid to rest beside his parents.
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