Neal Duane McAfee, Sr., a long-time resident of Lake Stevens passed away in Plano, Texas on June 6, 2009 due to complications from a stroke he incurred back in October 2008.
McAfee was born on March 6, 1940 in Imperial, Nebraska and served in the Air Force during the Vietnam War.
McAfee ran for Washington State Representative years ago while living in Lake Stevens. He also served on the Lake Stevens Chamber of Commerce Board.
“He lived in many places in the United States,” his son Neal McAfee, Jr. said. “He always seemed to return to the Lake Stevens area.”
McAfee was highlighted in the Lake Stevens Journal in August 2008. He had written a book entitled “Holocaust Memories of Rosy Mandel, She was a rose in the garden of death.”
His book was based upon Holocaust victim Rosy Mandel. Mandel passed away on June 6, 2005 which was her 85th birthday.
McAfee passed away four years to the day, later.
It was his dream that her memory be kept alive and her story be told.
“Rosy was an inspiration as a survivor and amidst the unspeakable horror and unimaginable atrocities she held God and kindness in her heart trying to help people daily,” McAfee said.
Services were held today, June 24 at 1 p.m. at the Snohomish United Methodist Church.

The following is a poem McAfee sent his son Neal, Jr. on his first birthday. The poem was written while he was serving in Vietnam.

I’d miss the little things
the morning doves’ soft coo,
the spring rains,an autumn day
the winter snows that blew.
A mountain waterfalls sweet song
a clear cold mountain stream,
a morning meadow filled with dew,
the trees in winter evergreen.
The calling of a prairie dog,
a chipmunk chattering near,
the softness of a new born fawn
the quickness of a deer.
The butterflies that flit about
the peace their beauty brings,
a pheasants call across a dell,
I’d miss the little things.
Neal D .McAfee Sr
June 10,1966
Cam Rahn Bay, South Vietnam