Edward John Neary III

1964 - 2015

Edward John Neary III
May 4, 1964 - January 26, 2015
Resident of Pleasant Hill
"Remarkable John Neary" passed away early Monday, January 26th, 2015 at Walnut Creek Kaiser Hospital after a courageous 5-year battle with Renal Cell Carcinoma. He touched so many lives with his kindness, always willing to lend a helping hand, even when he was in grueling pain. His tenacious spirit kept him passionate about life.
Cancer may have dampened his physical capabilities for restoring and driving cars (Boss 302 Mustangs), photographing trains, engineering projects, home remodeling, road trips, traveling with his lovely wife, spending time with his kids, family and friends, working at Dolby, but it never took away his spirit. It challenged him greatly, but he defeated it by not letting cancer break him; instead, he learned to "rise above" by counting his blessings. He used his love for others, faith in God, and his passions to bring out his very essence. He learned to live with cancer; he even saw it as a blessing – the fertilizer that helped to blossom his spiritual roses – the fuel for his Boss 302 horse-powered will, his quirky sense of humor, honesty, integrity, faith, bravery and humanity to the very end...
John was born in Oakland, CA, grew up in Walnut Creek and graduated from Las Lomas High in 1982. He graduated from Cal Poly State University with a BS in Electronic Engineering Technology in 1989. He worked for Dolby Laboratories for 20 yrs where he was Senior Director of Engineering; he was passionate about the products he developed and the people with whom he worked. He continued working at Dolby through his cancer treatments until he was disabled from bone metastases in June, 2014.
As both a Sci-Tech Academy Award and Emmy Award recipient, and – awarded most recently – a US patent for Synchronization in Adaptive Audio, there is still one more award much more important that than any of those that John will be picking up at the pearly gates… the "Remarkable Bravery and Beautiful Human Being Award." Of all people I've ever known, John Neary, you deserve it. You will be greatly missed by all. Your wife, your family, and your many friends will always love you.
John is survived by his wife, Kelly; son, Bryan; daughter, Leeah; mother Roberta; sister Margaret; brother James; niece Meagan; and his in-laws, Terry and Millie Sherman.
A memorial service will be held Sunday, February 22nd at 4pm at the Pleasant Hill Senior Center, 233 Gregory Lane, Pleasant Hill with reception to follow. For more info please visit: http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/thebookofjohn...neary
In lieu of flowers/gifts, the family requests donations be made in John's memory to The Cancer Support Community at: http://cancersupport.net/donate/ or, The Jack and Jill Late Stage Cancer Foundation at: http://jajf.org/donate/index.cfm