Neal Idso
Neal Idso CS1 (retired) passed over the bar on July 24 2006 one day shy of his 82nd birthday, in Sweet Home Oregon, of terminal lung disease. He was born July 23 1924 at home near Sesseton South Dakota to Kathryn and Charlie Idso. Neal lived with his family on farms in that vicinity and in the Mille Las Lake area of Minnesota as a yound child. In 1933 the family moved back to the family farm near Sesseton and Neal lived there, attending country school and farming until he joined the U. S. Coast Guard in Oct of 1943. He served in the military until his retirement in 1966 as a cook. I served with Neal on the CGC Ironwood in 1960/1961 where he was the ships cook. After retirement he worked for 11 years as a cook on commercial ships. He was a member of the VFW. In 1991 Neal moved to Sweet Home Or. where his sister Shirley Eday lived. He entered Twim Oaks Nursing Home on July 3 2006. His survivors include two sisters, Collen Hubert of Lamberton, Minn and Audrey Hensnan of Lacey Wash; a sister-in-law Doris Stubbs of little Canada. MN and four nieces, including Elaine O'Neill who visited and gave him company the last weekend before passing. Neal also visited with his close friend Sandy, sharing a few beers and smokes just before the end. He was preceded in death by two brothers, Quentin and Virgil and one sister Shirley and by his parents.
I new Neal for about a year on the CGC Ironwood. He was the kind of cook you would want at the time. He could make the canned food taste like fresh and there was always something to eat when you were on mid watch. The Coffee was never more than a day old and he fed the crew just like the boardroom. Neal was part of the crew that took the Ironwood thru Typhoon Trix and when the water failed he broke out the caned grapefruit juice and went around with the corpsman with HC sandwiches and stimulants to keep us going without sleep during the beyond force 12 Typhoon. We will all miss Neal.
01/02/07 Submitted by: Conrad vonBlankenburg conradswims@dslextreme.com
