Division Chief Don Neel
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Division Chief Don Neel
By Captain Cindy Gries
German Township Fire Department celebrates the life and mourns the loss of Division Chief Donald Neel. Known to almost everyone as Donnie, Chief Neel gave more than 30 years of dedicated service to the residents of German Township and the surrounding townships. Chief Neel passed away on September 24 of natural causes at the age of 58.
Chief Neel joined German Township Volunteer Fire Department in June of 1968. He met and married his wife, Cassandra (Garrett), while on the department, as her father, Lester Garrett, was an active member. He and Cassie were married and had a daughter, Beth, at which time Chief Neel took several years off to be with his family. Beth grew up and married Michael Plumlee, who after a trip to the department to work on one of the apparatus with his father-in-law, also joined the department.
After returning to GTVFD, Firefighter Neel worked his way through the ranks to Division Chief, the position he held at the time of his passing. Also presently on the department are his father-in-law, Lester Garrett, and son-in-law, Michael Plumlee. His grandson, Zachary “The Dude” Plumlee, kept him busy and Chief Neel was quite proud of him. They were both in the process of learning to play chess so Zachary could be on the chess team at school.
Chief Neel became good friends with Jim “JR” Fechtmeister, and together they kept the fire apparatus in excellent running order. Dubbed “Wing Nut” because of his apparatus maintenance duties, Chief Neel was extremely proud of German’s emergency equipment. Most times when anyone from the department called Chief Neel, especially at odd hours, he would answer with, “What’d you break now?” He always made sure things were fixed as soon as possible.
Having the personality Chief Neel had, sometimes you didn’t know if he was serious or joking, but, you always learned something. He knew the job and the trucks and he wanted, and expected, you to know them also. There was always a hug available to anyone who needed or wanted one, Chief Neel was always ready to console or to congratulate.
Chief Neel was a mentor to the newest members and the long-time members. He was always willing to teach, explain, fix, build. If a new truck was in the works, Chief Neel had his books and magazines to see what was available and what would be best for GTVFD. When training started, you could usually find him in the back of the room looking over new material, wanting to always be aware of changes and improvements.