Paul McNeil, at 72
Paul McNeil died Dec. 26 at the Brigham & Women’s Hospital in Boston, due to complications from a long illness. He was 72.
Mr. McNeil was born in Cohasset and was graduated from Cohasset High School’s Class of 1961.
He joined the U.S. Army after high school. He spent much of his time in the military overseas, where he fell in love with the Alps and winter sports while serving in Germany.
When he returned to Cohasset, he began work for General Dynamics at the Fore River Shipyard. He often reminisced about all the friends he made and fun he had while working as a foreman on various projects. He was very proud of the work done during the 1970s, when the shipyard produced a fleet of modern LNG supertankers.
When the shipyard closed, Mr. McNeil began work as a union ironworker in Boston. He worked on many of the city’s landmark buildings that were put up during the 1980s and ’90s.
Although he didn’t have much family, he was a man who had the talent of making friends wherever he went. The people who knew him well considered themselves lucky to be counted as part of his crew! He will be missed by all his old friends from Hull, Cohasset, and Hingham, but especially by everyone from Steve’s at A Street, where he was known to relax with a pint or two.
Mr. McNeil will also be remembered as captain of the “The Black Boat.” He loved nothing better than to go out in the morning and spend the entire day in the hot sun, despite how bad the fishing catch could be.
His funeral service was held this afternoon at the National Cemetery at Bourne.