James A. McNeil

James A. "Jim" McNeil, Jr., 73, of Hanahan, SC, died Thursday, July 2, 2015. His Mass of Christian Burial will be held Tuesday, July 7, 2015 in Divine Redeemer Catholic Church, 1106 Fort Drive, Hanahan, SC at 11:00 am. The Rite of Committal will follow in Carolina Memorial Park. The family will receive friends Monday from 6:00 pm to 8:00 pm in J. Henry Stuhr, Inc., Northwoods Chapel, 2180 Greenridge Road.

Jim was born May 12, 1942 in Southport, NC, son of James Augustine McNeil and Gertrude Gause McNeil. He met the love of his life, Sylvia Poindexter in his hometown of Southport and married her in 1961 while attending NC State College. Sylvia worked to put Jim through college and he credited her love and support as a primary reason for his success in work and in life. They had four beloved children and remained together for 54 years until his death. He will be greatly missed by his family. Jim joined Charleston Naval Shipyard as a civilian employee in 1964. The first part of his career was spent in the nuclear engineering department providing support for the refueling of nuclear powered submarines; both as an engineer and later as an engineering supervisor. In 1980, he joined the Shipyard's Radiological Control Office, where he served as a manager until he retired after 30 years of service. After Jim's retirement from civil service, he joined Lifecycle Engineering of Charleston, where he was instrumental in the decommissioning of the Barnwell Nuclear Fuel Plant. After leaving Lifecycle Engineering, he served as an independent consultant for a variety of different companies in the nuclear field. In the later years of Jim's career, he became an acknowledged expert on management of high level radioactive waste. In addition to his main career, Jim was the author of two fine works of historical non-fiction. His first book, "Charleston's Navy Yard, A Picture History", was published in 1987. His second book, "Masters of the Shoals, Tales of the Cape Fear Pilots Who Ran the Union Blockade", was published in 2003 and reprinted in 2015 by the Southport Historical Society.

Jim is survived by his wife, Sylvia Faye McNeil of Hanahan, SC, and their four children: James C."Chris" McNeil, Teresa Y. "Tracy" McNeil, Wendy K. Hartman and Shannon "Sean" McNeil, all of Charleston, SC. Jim had two beloved grandchildren, Kristin McNeil and Stephen Hartman, Jr. who reside in Charleston. He is also survived by his two sisters, Sarah McNeil and Trudy Young, both of Southport, NC.

In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to the American Cancer Society, 5900 Core Road, Suite 504 North Charleston, SC 29406.