John Oliver Woodard Neely, Sr. , affectionately known as "Woody," was called to his eternal home on Saturday, December 12, 2015, at the Hinkle Hospice House.

The funeral service will be Friday at 2:00 pm at First Baptist Church on Village Dr. with family visitation an hour before the service.Burial will follow at Forest Hill Memorial Park with full military honors.

Public viewing will be Thursday from 1:00-7:00 pm at Roberts Funeral Service.

Mr. Neely was born on January 13, 1926, to Roddy B. Neely, Sr. and Fannie Lopp Glenn. He attended Lexington City Schools and entered the U. S. Navy at an early age.He received an honorabledischarge from the Navy in 1946. After returning to Lexington, he married the love of his life, Bettie Martha Holmes.

Mr. Neely worked at United Furniture Company and after many years, retired from Stanley Furniture Company.He also worked as custodian for Lexington State Bank and served a short-term placement with the Lexington Police Department.

He was a lifetime faithful member of First Baptist Church, Village Drive where he served as co-chairman of the Deacon Board until his health began to decline.Deacon Neely served on several ministries, including the Men's Choir, the Mass Choir, Sunday School Superintendent, BTU Worship Leader and Superintendent, Representative to the Pastor's Pantry of Davidson County and van driver for First Baptist Day Care.

He was elected to serve on the first Human Relations Committee spearheaded by the Mayor of Lexington during the race riots of the 1960's. He was the first black elected to serve as Sergeant- at-Arms for the North Carolina State Office of The American Legion.Likewise, he was very instrumental in the startup of The American Legion Post 255 in Lexington and held various officer positions here.

In addition to his parents, he was preceded in death by two brothers, Roddy Neely, Jr. and Charles Glenn; two sisters, Edna Hayden and Marguerite Wilkins and a favorite nephew, Clarence "Donny" Lopp.

He leaves to cherish his memory his devoted wife of 69 years, Bettie Neely;four daughters: Robbie N. Cross (Bruce, Sr.) of Lexington, NC, Sonja A. Cross, Fannie N. Henderson and Sylvia W. Neely all of Winston-Salem, NC; one son, John Oliver Woodard "Woody" Neely, Jr. (Yvette) ofWinston-Salem, NC; three granddaughters: Christa "Nikki" Henderson of Winston-Salem, NC, Kenye' M. Pierce (Andrew) of Fort Worth, Texas and Storme' Iman Neely of Winston-Salem, NC.;three grandsons: Charles Adoulph Cross,Jr. of Winston-Salem, NC, Bruce M. Cross, Jr. of Raleigh, NC and Mori Mekal Brown of Winston-Salem, NC; one great-grandson, Preston A. Pierce of Fort Worth, Texas;one sister, Mattie Terry of Lexington; one brother, Robert Glenn of Las Vegas, Nevada and a host of cousins, nieces, nephews, family and friends.