Philip Dacre Neal

Philip Dacre Neal was born at Shooter Hill Hospital (no wonder he liked playing pool) in London on 6 April 1962, the son of Peter and Carol Neal. His progressively enlightened mother raised Phil according to the teachings of Dr. Benjamin Spock who advocated affection, flexibility, children treated as individuals, progressive permissiveness and firm boundaries without force…so a hippy in germination. Phillip moved to Australia in 1966. His classmates were soccer-mad and so he joined the Baulkham Hills Soccer Club at 5 years old. Phil was a mover. He liked to dodge and move around the football field. His preferred position was in the midfield where he was free to roam. The family moved to Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe) in 1971 so his family could be with his cousins and grandparents who had grown up under the vast deep blue African skies. His mother†™s nickname for him at home was †œPip†� - short for Phillip. Growing up in Africa, Phil loved the outdoors and elephants. Family vacations were to Hwange National Park or Victoria Falls. Holidays were in exotic places like Mozambique or the tropical coasts of Durban in South Africa. Phil once had a narrow escape with an Egyptian Cobra which sprang between his feet as he was walking to Paddington swimming pool to check out the girls. On family holidays his father introduced Phil to Snooker, the English version of American pool. Phil was obviously a natural and billiards turned into a life-long passion. Phil played Club Soccer for Old Miltonians from age 6-19 as a mid-fielder. He was also competitive at cards, chess, cribbage, and on the School Quiz team, due to his extensive General Knowledge of trivia or the abstract. Phil was an avid reader even as a child, beginning with books about the Midwest and horses such as My friend Flicka and The Green Hills of Wyoming. Ironically, he completed the circle by ending up in Colorado! His interests encompassed astronomy, photography, classic cars and even wines. On leaving school in 1981, Phil worked briefly at Barclays Bank as a trainee clerk and quickly picked up the intricacies of the banking world. Phil left Zimbabwe in 1985 to enroll in a Hotel Management course in Hampshire, England. He completed his course and learned to cook, picking up some impressive skills in the kitchen. Phil had developed a passion for High Fidelity sound equipment and Audio Visual technology, which was gathering pace as a progressive new field. He worked in this field for several years and enjoyed a rather cosmopolitan lifestyle before being seduced away by Tracy and Colorado! Tracy remembers the exact day she and Phil †œmet†�. It was May 17, 2002, her grandmother†™s birthday. They were both part of an online V-zone game and this was the first time they actually spoke outside of their roles in the game. Little did they know that this was the beginning of the next chapter in both their lives. After several months Tracy invited Phil to visit her in the US and he took her up on it in September of 2002. By the time Phil returned to the UK they were talking about marriage. On New Year†™s Eve 2002 Phil spoke with Rich and Cookie and they wholeheartedly agreed. Phil was immediately a much-loved member of the family. On a Tuesday afternoon in April, in a little chapel in the foothills of Golden, CO they were wed in a small ceremony. Phil soon began working for Carpenter Design doing audio and video installation. He stayed with this company for several years, furthering his skills in the field. In 2007 Phil moved to RSI and it was there that he truly found his calling in designing audio and visual systems. His colleagues describe Phil as unfailingly polite and a bridge-builder when it came to his professional relationships with other employees and vendors. It was very rare to ever hear him say an unkind word about anyone, and even more rare to hear anyone say an unkind word about him. Phil†™s biggest professional passions were high-end audio and video, but the systems he designed typically included much more than that. He essentially designed †œsmart home†� systems. Audio and video were almost always a part of those systems, but they also often included lighting control systems, motorized window coverings, security systems, environmental detection systems, camera systems, climate control systems, and home computer networks. Early in their relationship both Tracy and Phil agreed that they wanted a family. In 2006, Ten days before her due date and during a blizzard they welcomed baby Skye who became the center of their world. Phil took to fatherhood instantly, and he was as passionate about it as he was about anything. When Skye was 9 months old they held her dedication at DFC, where she wore the same gown that Phil had worn as a baby. Ironically, this was during another blizzard! It was around the time Skye was 3 that Phil decided he needed a hobby and returned to his old love of billiards. Billiards became, after his family, his new passion. The only time he missed a league night was if Skye had an event at school. There were trips to California with Tracy†™s sister Kelly and her family to visit their brother Rich and his wife Jamie, and visits from Phil†™s father Peter; long-term planning of the future yard and and a revival of his love of cooking. Phil had an extensive collection of Jamie Oliver cookbooks and could always be counted on to bring a Coq au Vin or a much anticipated tiramisu to a family gathering. Phil spent the last weekend here with us doing the things he loved best: taking numerous photos at Skye†™s first cheer leading exhibition on Friday night and playing pool with his friend Rasa on Sunday afternoon. He was taken from this life too soon, and we will always remember our dear husband, father, son, brother and friend; the gentlest of souls and most caring of men.