Please lift up the McNeill family during their time of loss in the passing of Glennard Sims McNeill.  Condolences may be sent to 102 Westongate Way, Cary, NC 27513. The memorial service for Glennard McNeill will be held on Saturday, February 15, 2020 at First Baptist Church, 401 Hubbard Street, Reidsville, NC  27320. The family will receive guests starting at noon and the service will begin at 1:00 p.m.

Glennard Sims McNeill was born to Glenn Melvin McNeill, Sr. and the late Ethel Johnson McNeill on June 12, 1972.  Having a profound love for sports and the arts, he participated on the junior high and senior high football teams, chorus and various other related activities within the Reidsville City school system where he received his education.  The latter extended to the youth choir at First Baptist Church, where he faithfully attended during his youth. He graduated from Reidsville Senior High in 1990 and relocated to New Jersey shortly thereafter.

Nicknamed "Nard" or "Nard-ski" by some, he was a jokester without end and had a fun-loving personality.  Despite his stature, he was the "baby boy" to all.  His greatest blessing and curse were that he could befriend anyone, from anywhere.  It was once said that he could connect with people from the 'White House to the gutter' without differentiation.  He had little attachment to earthly possessions and would give his last without question.

He was quite the charmer and was that "one" you could never seem to remain upset with for long. It's no wonder he had a special bond with many that went beyond the biological tie:  a cousin, like Aprile McNeill Odenheimer, who was more like a sister. An aunt, like Deborah McNeill or Mary Swann, who were more like mother-figures.  "Aunt Deb" was lovingly instrumental in Glennard's life.  Their bond undergirded his relocation to New Jersey, where he remained until moving to Maryland with his sister, Glennis McNeill Simpson, in 1991.

Glennard was masterfully artistic.  Although never formally trained, his drawings displayed skill well beyond that of a novice. This, and music were probably the only constants amid his many ventures and "get rich quick schemes."  He was a nomad in some ways; literally allowing the wind to take him where it wanted while he just went with the flow.  While in Maryland, he became a member of Antioch the Apostolic Church where his sister and brother-in-law now pastor the Baltimore Congregation. He again relocated to Syracuse, New York in 2008, where he remained until death on February 2, 2020 due to heart failure.

Glennard was preceded in death by his beloved mother, the late Ethel J. McNeill; maternal grandparents, Johnnie and Norrell Johnson; and paternal grandparents, Duncan (Sr.) and Onie McNeill.

He leaves behind his father, Glenn M. McNeill, Sr., of Reidsville, NC; two brothers, Overseer Glenn Douglas McNeill, of Reidsville, NC and Colonel Glenn M. McNeill, Jr. (Thevesa), of Cary, NC; one sister, Glennis M. Simpson (Charles Simpson, Jr.), of Baltimore, MD; two beautiful daughters, Tianna McNeill, of Friendsville, TN and Taylor McNeill, of Fayetteville, NC; and a host of nieces, nephews, aunts, uncles and cousins.

Courtesy of McLaurin Funeral Home.