OBITUARY

Evening Post, Volume CXXI, Issue 36, 12 February 1936, Page 17

OBITUARY

MRS. J. S. NEVILLE.

The death .occurred early yesterday morning of Mrs. J. S. Neville, wife of Mr. J. S. Neville, Town Clerk of Christchurch. The announcement was received with deep sorrow throughout the city, for Mrs. Neville by her kindly disposition and willingness to assist in any worthy cause had endeared herself to hundreds of citizens during a number of years. Mr. and Mrs. Neville had only recently settled in their home after a lengthy visit overseas, and on that account her death is all the more regrettable.

As wife of the chief executive officer of the city, Mrs. Neville played a 'conspicuous part in municipal life, and during the past thirteen years was associated with her husband in receiving and entertaining many distinguished visitors to the city. Her work brought her into close contact with the Mayoresses of the city, and present and past Mayoresses have paid grateful tributes to the help they have received from her on all occasions. Mrs. Neville's cheerful personality was one of her most endearing assets; and her presence ensured the success of any gathering. In addition to her other duties, Mrs. Neville played a large part in the relief of distress, particularly during the past five" years, when the city experienced times of the severest adversity. In 1931, at the time of the great earthquake in Hawke's Bay, Mrs. Neville was in the forefront of a band of workers who sought to relieve the plight of refugees coming to Christchurch. She was also a conspicuous figure in all organisations promoted for the raising of funds for war relief during the period 1914-18. Besides those in the city, there will be many people in the- Lake Coleridge district who will remember Mrs. Neville. During the epidemic in 1918 she was stationed in that district, and under particularly trying conditions when medical aid was hard to obtain, she performed outstanding service in caring for the sick. Mrs. Neville, who was created a Justice of the Peace a few years ago, was one of the city's best-loved citizens, her thoughtfulness for others earning for her the highest respect.