Neil Westervelt: A life well lived

Hanging from a mantle in the Neil and Joy Westervelt home is a sign, a school calligraphy project of one of their sons. Simple and to the point, it says: “Life is too short to waste.”
That tells as much as anything about the way Neil Westervelt, who died Tuesday evening at Olathe Medical Center, went about spending his 66 years on Earth.
“Neil loved his family and ran his company in a way that he always thought would be pleasing to God,” said Joy, his wife of more than 41 years, Wednesday afternoon as family and friends gathered at the Westervelt home on the south side of Lake Bassola.
“Tuesday afternoon at about 1:30 I was going out to the lobby to visit with friends who had just arrived” at the medical center, Joy said. “Neil raised his arms, took my hand and (son-in-law) Casey’s in his hands and gathered all of the family around his bed. He then bowed his head and led us all in a prayer of thanksgiving for our blessings and God’s strength and for God to watch over all of his family in his absence.”
Minutes later his morphine drip was increased and Westervelt slipped from consciousness for the last time. He died at 9 o’clock that night.
Westervelt had many interests, including machine work he first learned in Joplin. He owned and operated M&W Manufacturing from 1979 on. He was retired from active management. The company continues today under Westervelt ownership.
He has been a well-respected and involved member of several local organizations throughout his years in Iola, including Iola Rotary Club, of which he was president this year. He had been a deacon and served on several committees at First Baptist Church, where he and Joy became members in 1976. More recently he served on the board of Fellowship Regional Church. He also was a member of the Iola Area Chamber of Commerce and Iola Industries.
In addition to his leadership roles over several years with Rotary, he participated in paper drives, trash pickup along local highways and in Christmas gift-wrapping projects. Also, Westervelt was instrumental in starting and perpetuating Rotary’s annual Car Show in conjunction with the Allen County Fair, a fond project given his interest in automobiles.
Among his favorites as a young man was a 1969 Dodge Dart, orange with a black vinyl top and faster than anything else in Barton County, Mo. The car’s owner just happened to be Joy’s brother, Jim Ring, and in recent years Westervelt purchased and rebuilt to like-new condition a 1972 Dodge Dart Swinger. As pristine as new-fallen snow, Westervelt delighted in taking the car to the fair and other shows.
He also enjoyed fishing — caught his largest striper ever last fall — and took advantage of the lake in his backyard to watch grandchildren try their luck.
He was diagnosed with cancer Dec. 12. After not getting encouragement early on, the Westervelts turned to cancer centers in Houston and then Chicago, where he spent all but a month of the last five. Pneumonia twice complicated treatment — double the second time — as did a low-sodium condition.
While at Chicago, doctors became concerned when an X-ray indicated enlargement of his heart. A CAT scan was scheduled the next day.
“We prayed a lot that night,” said Joy.
After scan results were interpreted, “the doctor came in shaking his head,” she recalled. “‘Everything looks totally normal,’ he told us. ‘Neil must have been on the table crooked when we took the X-ray.’
“You can call it coincidence all you want, but God still is in business and he still does miracles,” Joy said.
A week ago today the Westervelts were told they had no more options, which led them back to Iola and then to Olathe when Westervelt’s condition worsened.
“He was a wonderful man, had a lot of friends,” Joy said of her husband. “He was a good Christian man” — a description that would have pleased Westervelt to no end.

NEIL WAYNE Westervelt was born Feb. 23, 1947, in Columbus to Harold and Edith Wilcox Westervelt. He married Joy Ring, of Liberal, Mo., on Sept. 11, 1971. They moved to Iola in 1976.
He is survived by his wife; three sons, J.C. and wife Dedra, Tod and wife Stacey and Corey and wife Jamie, all of Iola; a daughter, Lori Cary and husband Casey, Iola; 10 grandchildren, Sheldon, Braden, Noah, Jacob, Wyatt and Griffin Westervelt, and Xavier, Ashley, Tristan and Lesleigh Cary, all of Iola; a brother, Paul Westervelt and wife Marilyn, Columbus; a sister, Judith Grant, Columbus; mother-in-law Violet Ring and brother-in-law Tim Ring, both of Liberal, Mo.; brother-in-law, Gary Ring and wife Judy, Granby, Mo.; and numerous nieces, nephews and cousins.
Services will be at 2 p.m. Saturday at Fellowship Regional Church with graveside services to follow at Highland Cemetery. Friends are invited to join the family afterward at the family home, 22 Bassett St., to celebrate a life that was well loved and well lived.
Visitation is from 6 to 8 p.m. Friday at Fellowship Regional Church.