Neal Vinyard

(From Caruth-Hale Funeral Home)

Neal Vinyard, age 90 of Hot Springs Village AR, passed from this life December 30. He was born in Springfield, Colorado in 1935, the son of Val and Dorothy Vinyard who preceded him in death as did 1 sister and 2 brothers. Surviving are his wife Karen of 61 years, one sister, 1 daughter and son-in-law, two granddaughters, one great granddaughter, and many cousins and nieces and nephews.

Neal's family moved from Colorado to Adair, Oklahoma in 1938 where he grew up and graduated High School. He was a graduate of The University of Oklahoma with a degree in business management and also served 5½ years in the Marine Corps Reserves.

He was employed at Phillips Petroleum and Credit manager for McCall pattern company in Manhattan, Ks, where he spent 6 years working not only as Credit manager but also in Production in a plant of 900 employees. He spent much of that time in the corporate office in New York City.

Deciding not to move to the East Coast, He and Karen decided to buy their own business which was a Poultry-Cattle operation and in 1976 moved to the Wheaton area in SW Missouri where they lived for almost 30 years. Neal enjoyed working with cattle and enjoyed overnight trail rides with family and friends. Locally, he served 6 years on the Wheaton R-3 School Board and well as the South Barry County Hospital Board and was involved in the State Cattleman's Association.

He retired in 2000 and Karen in 2001. They moved to Hot Springs Village full-time in 2003 to pursue their love of golf. They had developed a Junior Golf Program in Neosho, Mo and Neal immediately became involved in the Hot Springs Village Jr Golf Program and was an instructor beginning in 2004, which involved teaching and directing the advanced junior golfers at the Village Granada Golf Course.

He also served on the POA Golf Committee for several years He was a member of the Hot Springs Village Men's Golf Association from 2003 until his death. He and Karen played in many couples golf Outings and tournaments in several states including Kansas, Missouri, Arkansas, and Mississippi. They became members of the Christ of the Hills Methodist Church in 2003 and they both served as Steven Ministers for several years.

One of the many interests that Neal pursued after retirement was painting and he became an accomplished artist with pastel as the medium. He painted people, animals and then many landscape pictures of the surrounding area.

They loved Hot Springs Village and Neal said that he always felt like they were on vacation all of the time. He had several golf groups and coffee groups and enjoyed all of the friends he made in the village over the many years of living there.

A celebration of life will be held on January 24, 2026 at 10:00am taking place at Christ of the Hills United Methodist Church.

Shortly after services have taken place, please visit Christ of the Hills United Methodist Church website, to view his service.

In lieu of flowers please make memorials to the HSV Junior Golf program. Please read the article on the front page of the HSV Junior Golf Website.