Freddie B. McNeil was born on Sunday, May 29, 1949 to Freddie and Esther Jones McNeil in Moscow, Tennessee. He was the first of 10 children. He accepted Christ at an early age and joined Liberty Branch Missionary Baptist Church, also in Moscow, and was active in youth activities. Freddie was educated in the Fayette County Public School System, graduating from Fayette Ware High School in Somerville, Tennessee. From there, he enrolled in Tennessee State University majoring in Plant Science. There were many great events during his college tenure, including graduating with his Bachelor of Science degree in Plant Science and meeting his future wife, LaDon Goodman, who he proposed to on Valentine's Day and was married to for 41 years. After completing an internship with the United States Department of Agriculture (Soil Conservation Service) in Miles City, Montana, Freddie was hired and remained a faithful, cooperative and knowledgeable employee of USDA in Aiken, South Carolina; Cassopolis, Michigan; Adrian, Michigan; and Flint, Michigan.

 

     Freddie and LaDon were blessed with two children, Mia D. McNeil and Frederick L. McNeil in whom he always instilled the importance of education and lifelong learning. As a result of this, both of his children furthered their educations and graduated from Eastern Michigan University (Frederick) and Thomas M. Cooley Law School (Mia). He not only promoted the importance of education to his children, but to any young person he met through his job, within the community, or in his church. He took great pride in mentoring young men and sharing with them all of the knowledge he had. And like clockwork, each conversation would end with a pitch about his alma mater of Tennessee State University.

 

     Anyone who knew Freddie was aware of the value he placed on his work for the United States Department of Agriculture. As an employee, he was a dedicated worker of the Natural Resources Conservation Service for 41 years. He was passionate about learning new techniques to improve the lives of farmers all over the state of Michigan. However, he believed that his role in the organization was much bigger than the typical day-to-day duties. It was always important to him to ensure that there was diversity and equity in USDA; and that he could share his skills with the community. He was president of the Michigan chapter of the National Organization for Professional Black Natural Resource Conservation Service Employees. Under his tutelage, the state organization hosted an annual Black history program at the state headquarters. Additionally, he took his training in agriculture and used it to beautify the community around him and help to make it more sustainable. He did this through both working on urban gardening projects within the city of Flint, Michigan; and through landscaping throughout the greater Genesee County area.

 

     As Freddie would often say, all of these accolades about who he was and what he did are fine, but the most important thing he would want anyone to know is that he was a child of God. Freddie served faithfully in many ministries in the church including as a deacon, Sunday school teacher, a member of the Laymen and a member of the male chorus. As a deacon, he was always actively involved in the worship services and was never reluctant about witnessing, praising, and making a joyful noise unto the Lord. He was very supportive of Kingdom building and had a great passion for creating opportunities for the work of the church. In his final work for the church, he spearheaded placing a community computer lab within his church. Ironically, he died on the day he was planning to show off the lab to the church. This lab is currently being used for apprenticeship and job training for members of the community. 

 

     Freddie B. McNeil died on Sunday, September 7, 2014. It is in honor of him that his family and friends have created The Freddie McNeil Project to carry on the work of this great man.