Henry F. Neighbors

Henry F. Neighbors

Henry F. Neighbors, 84, died Wednesday, December 9, 2009, after a long illness.

He was born in Cleveland, Ohio, and grew up in the town of Hudson.

He attended Hudson public schools before entering, and subsequently graduating from Western Reserve Academy in 1942. He was also a graduate of the University of Virginia, class of 1946. By then, his family had moved to the Washington, D.C. area. Between his graduation from Reserve and his entry into University of Virginia, he was one of the first people to work in the first part of the Pentagon to open for business, serving as a payroll witness and as a courier for the Adjutant General's Office.

After graduation from University of Virginia, where he co-captained Virginia's first championship baseball team, Hank was recruited by the former Brooklyn Dodgers as a pitcher. His dream of a career in baseball ended painfully when he injured his pitching shoulder only five months after joining the team. He then put his AB in economics in practical use. After working in some businesses in the Washington, D.C. area, Hank joined the Proctor and Gamble Company in Cincinnati, Ohio, in 1951, working in its advertising media department until his retirement in March 1981. In Cincinnati, he met, and in June 1954, married the former Nancy Foshay.

In addition to baseball, Hank loved music of many kinds. He and Nancy sang in their church choir for many years. He played his violin in several amateur orchestras, and his tuba in the Terrace Park, Ohio, Marching Band, and both instruments in the Terrace Park Players amateur musical productions. After retiring from Proctor and Gamble, he formed a vocal-jazz group, Close Company, which sang at clubs, pubs and private parties in various venues in Ohio, southern Indiana, Michigan and Missouri. After he and Nancy moved to the Charlottesville, Virginia, area in 1994, he played violin in the Charlottesville and University Symphony Orchestra and in the Lynchburg Symphony Orchestra, and tuba in the Charlottesville Municipal Band, until his illness forced him to retire.

Hank is survived by his wife, Nancy; two sons, Clifford B. and Philip C. Neighbors; a daughter, Eve N. Warner and her husband, Kermit; and two grandchildren, Emily and Ian; and a brother, John N. Neighbors.

He was preceded in death by a son, James C. Neighbors; and a brother, Walter D. Neighbors.

A memorial service will be conducted at Buck Mountain Episcopal Church in Earlysville, 1 p.m. Saturday December 19, 2009. Interment will be at Spring Grove Cemetery at Cincinnati, Ohio, at a date to be determined.

Instead of flowers, the family asks that memorial contributions be made to University of Virginia Baseball; The Alzheimer's Association, Central and Western Virginia Chapter, Hospice of the Piedmont or Buck Mountain Episcopal Church.

Friends may sign the guest register at teaguefuneralhome.com.


This obituary was originally published in the Daily Progress.