Gretchen Neill

NEILL (Haslbauer),

Gretchen Theresa

November 2, 1946 –

October 8, 2025

Gretchen H. Neill of Roswell, GA, passed away peacefully on October 8, 2025 after a brave eight-year battle with dementia. As with anything she undertook, Gretchen faced the challenge with courage and grace – something that will surprise no one who knew her.

Born Gretchen Theresa Haslbauer on November 2, 1946, in Knoxville, TN, Gretchen was the third of three children born to Otto Frank and Phelma Marie (Andersen) Haslbauer. She grew up in Norris, TN, which gave her a lifelong appreciation and love of the natural world. She was a phenomenal gardener and spent many hours tending to her beloved Daylilies and German Bearded Irises. Growing up in the congregation of St. Francis Epsicopal Church (which her parents were founding members of in 1950), she also developed a love of music that never faded. A gifted flautist, she played professionally in the Knoxville Symphony while attending college at The University of Tennessee (from which she graduated in 1967) and also at The Abbey upon moving to Atlanta in 1968.

Shortly after arriving in Atlanta, she began graduate school at Emory University, from which she would receive two advanced degrees (Master of Librarianship in December 1970 and Diploma for Advanced Study in Librarianship in December 1976). As she was settling into her new hometown, she also met her future husband, Charles "Chip" Glass Neill, Jr., on a blind date on New Year's Eve. She and Chip would marry on June 6, 1970 and raise two daughters, Jennifer Christine and Anna Theresa.

While a full-time graduate student, wife, and mother, Gretchen also embarked on her career in academia that ultimately spanned 40 years. She began working at Georgia Perimeter College (formerly DeKalb College) in Learning Resources in 1971 and within eleven years was not only a member of the college administration, but a widely respected voice in her field. She was a pioneer in distance learning and corporate education and received multiple professional awards for her contributions to educational technology. She was a natural leader and a gifted manager; she possessed the ability to bring out the best in her teams and always did so in a thoughtful and constructive way – the ultimate compliment was that people wanted to work with her and for her. These qualities led to her selection for public outreach and civic initiatives, including as a member of Leadership DeKalb and chair of its Alumni Association and Steering Committee. She was also active in the Rotary Club of Dunwoody, receiving the Rotarian of the Year award for 2001 – 2002.

While she was immensely successful in her career, she also cherished time with her family. She was protective of time with Chip and her girls, always attending the girls' basketball and soccer games – even when it meant sitting in the rain in a suit and heels. She also enjoyed traveling with her family. Not only was she a wonderful wife to Chip and an amazing mother and role model to her two girls, but she was also an animal lover and was in turn beloved by her pets, including cats and crows (!) when she was young as well as several cats and dogs over the past five plus decades.

Gretchen will be missed by all who knew her. She is survived by her husband of 55 years, Charles Glass Neill, Jr., of Roswell, GA; her daughters, Jennifer Christine Neill, of Roswell, GA and Dr. Anna Theresa Neill (Vivian Guzman), of Miami, FL; and her beloved Labrador Retriever, Quinn.

Gretchen's family will hold a memorial service in Atlanta in the coming months and will inter her ashes next to her parents at St. Francis in Norris in the Spring of 2026.

Gretchen is now free from the burden of dementia, which also sadly took her father and uncle. Given Gretchen's passion for education and as an alumnus of Emory University, her family asks that, in lieu of flowers, gifts be made in memory of Gretchen H. Neill to Emory University and directed to the Goizueta Alzheimer's Disease Research Center.