Neil STEVENSON

WILLIAMSBURG - Neil MacGill Stevenson, Rear Admiral United States Navy (retired), died on Nov. 21, 2009, in Williamsburg, Va., after a courageous battle with cancer.
He and his beloved wife, Diane, lived in Williamsburg for the past 24 years after retiring from the Navy.
Neil was born in 1930 in the Fort Hamilton area of Brooklyn, N.Y., the son of an Irish immigrant bricklayer, Henry Stevenson and Margaret MacGill from Scotland. Neil attended Public School 127, Public School 104 and Fort Hamilton High School. In 1949 he headed west to Tarkio College in Tarkio Missouri for the promise of a good education, a small scholarship and a guaranteed job so he could afford the tuition. While at Tarkio, Neil played on the baseball team for three years and graduated Cum Laude with a Bachelor of Arts in History and Psychology. His real achievement however, was landing the love of his life, homecoming queen, Georgia Diane Neal.
Neil and Diane were married on July 6, 1953, while Neil was earning his Master of Divinity at Pittsburgh Theological Seminary in Pittsburgh, Pa. In December of 1955, remembering the following words of wisdom from his father, "It's not like the Army; if you join the Navy, you will have a warm bed, and you'll have hot meals, so the place to be is the Navy", Neil began his journey in the United States Navy as a Lieutenant (junior grade).
During his long and distinguished 30 year career, Admiral Stevenson served at 13 different billets, including Commander Destroyer Ten; Naval Station, Newport, Rhode Island; the USS Saratoga; the Third Marine Amphibious Force, South Vietnam; the Naval Logistics Command Pacific Fleet in Pearl Harbor as the Fleet Chaplain; and Chief of Chaplains, United States Navy, in Arlington, Va. During that time Neil was awarded the Distinguished Service Medal, the Meritorious Service Medal, the Legion of Merit with combat V, the Armed Forces Expeditionary Medal, the Vietnam Service Medal, the Republic of Vietnam Meritorious Unit Citation and the Vietnam Campaign Medal. Also, during this time Neil was an Honor Graduate, Advanced Course, Naval Chaplain School; and was awarded his Master of Theology from Princeton Theological Seminary in 1968. He was honored by his alma mater with a Doctor of Divinity in 1983.
After retiring from the Navy, Neil began an equally impactful second career as Pastor of the Williamsburg Presbyterian Church in October of 1985. Under his leadership, the church membership grew dramatically; he helped establish a vigorous Board of Deacons as the compassionate arm of the church, and spearheaded the building of a magnificent Fellowship Hall as a part of an aggressive expansion initiative. In honor of his retirement as Pastor in September of 1995, the building project was completely paid off.
During his 24 years in Williamsburg, Neil was an active participant in the community as a member of Rotary, The Middle Plantation Club, The Kingsmill Tennis and Yacht Clubs, and The German; Member and Vice Chair of the Williamsburg Community Hospital Board; Member and Vice Chair of the Williamsburg Landing Retirement Community; and a long time teacher at Christopher Wren Association. He helped launch the Stone House Presbyterian Church in Toano, Va., and for one year served as their first Pastor for total salary of $1.00. Neil also served as the Interim Pastor of the Yorkminster Presbyterian Church. During his more than 50 years as a clergyman, Neil demonstrated leadership, compassion and expertise in ministry as Pastor, Supervisor, Administrator, Educator, Diplomat, Student, Interim Preacher, Counselor and Friend to all. The Williamsburg Church recently honored him with the designation of Pastor Emeritus.
Neil leaves behind his beloved wife of 56 years Diane; his daughter, Heather Rosecrans and her husband, Bob, his daughter, Holly Hankins and her husband, Paul and his daughter, Heidi Tanguay and her husband, David. Neil was also blessed with eight wonderful grandchildren, including Amy Tanguay, Sarah Tanguay, Scott Tanguay, Keith Hankins, Ian Hankins, Annie Hankins, Peter Rosecrans and Robbie Rosecrans. He will be greatly missed by his family and friends.
His parents, Margaret and Henry Stevenson; and his sister, Janice, predeceased him.
Services will be held at 11 a.m. Friday, Nov. 27, at the Williamsburg Presbyterian Church. Neil will also receive full honors at Arlington Cemetery at a to-be-determined date in the near future.
In lieu of flowers, donations in memory of Neil may be made to either Williamsburg Presbyterian Church Building Fund, 215 Richmond Rd., Williamsburg, VA 23185 or Presbyterian House Association, P.O. Box 459 Chautauqua, NY 14722. View and post condolences on our online guestbook at dailypress.com/guestbooks.