Obituary of Helen Jeanne Neal

Helen Jeanne Neal June 4,1929 to July 16, 2024 Helen was born in San Francisco. Her parents were French, and French was her first language. They later moved to the French section in Marin County, San Anselmo, CA. She married her first husband, Richard Lang, in 1948 and had three children. Monica in 1949, Richard “Rick” in 1951 and Duane in 1956. She later divorced Richard and married Albert Neal in 1961, having her last child, Alan, in 1962. They moved around a lot before finally settling down in Petaluma, CA. In 1972 she was baptized as one of Jehovah’s Witnesses. She loved sharing her hope for a better future and was active in the congregations she attended thru the years. In 1979 she was widowed at the age of 50. She went on to live a full, rich life on her own while taking care of her son, Duane who had health issues. After living in Petaluma for over 35 years, she and her son, Duane moved to Cloverdale to be near to her daughter, Monica and her son in law, Brian. She lived there for over 20 years. The last year and half she moved to Lakeport to be closer to her son, Alan and his wife, Becky. Helen was a very loving and special person. Very giving and always looking out for family and friends that were in need. She was a homemaker and known for making very good food. Her interests were French cooking, cake decorating, and flower arranging. She even went to school for French cooking, receiving a certificate for her talents. She loved old black and white movies and loved to talk about them and the actors and actresses in them. She loved the Victorian era. Just pick up a "Victoria" magazine with all its beautiful pictures of antiques, porcelain or fine China tea sets and pastel flowers arrangements, and it will make you think of Helen. Her house was always humble, but always immaculately decorated (not to mention squeaky clean) with antiques, delicate China dishes and large floral arrangements that she made herself, always in her favorite colors of pink and soft pastel colors. Helen was an amazing woman who was able to live independently until the last 3 weeks of her life, never having any kind of cognitive decline. At 95 years of age, she was still smart as a tack. She attributed that healthy mind to the reading and bible study she did every day. Predeceased by her is her husband Albert, and three of her children, Rick Lang in 1999, Duane Lang in 2017 and Monica Patenaude in 2021. She is survived by her son, Alan Neal (Becky); sisters, Vickie Pedroli and Valerie Henry; grandchildren, Mark Moline (Natalie), Michael Moline (Pauleen), Elisabeth Cruz (Daniel), Kevin Kitchens (Khrystal) and Richard “Richie” Lang; as well as great grandchildren, Nicholas, LJ, Lucas, Monica, and Hunter; nieces, Chrissy and Leeann; and nephews, Ron, Kenny and Larry. She was dearly cherished by her family and friends and will be dearly missed by all. It was Helen's wish not to have a public service. The family did do a small graveside gathering at her burial, we wanted to be together and honor our sweet Helen. She is buried at Valley Memorial Park Cemetary in Novato, CA. Next to her, on the same lawn, are her two son's Duane and Rick Lang and her daughter Monica Patenaude.