Mr. Lawrence (G.L.) McNeill, 87, of Andalusia, AL, died Thursday, July 29, 2010 at his home after an extended illness. Funeral services for Mr. McNeill will be held on Monday, August 2, 2010 at 11:00am at Foreman Funeral Home Chapel. Reverend Alfred Ikner will officiate. Interment will be in the Andalusia Memorial Cemetery.

Survivors include his wife of 66 years, Mrs. Beverly McNeill of Andalusia; a daughter, Shirley McNeill of Andalusia; three grandchildren, Chris McNeill of Andalusia, Amanda Smith of Andalusia and Lance McNeill of Florala; four great grandchildren and one great great grandchild; a brother, Carlisle Jones and wife Betty of Jacksonville, Florida and a sister, Radie Welch of Mobile, AL. Mr. McNeill was preceded in death by his son, Danny McNeill.

Mr. McNeill and his wife moved to Florala from Hartford in the mid 1940’s and started McNeill Concrete. Three years later, he moved to Andalusia and opened a concrete plant in Andalusia. In 1952, he received the franchise from Wilbert Burial Vaults out of Chicago, Illinois, and started manufacturing Wilbert Burial Vaults, covering an area of 21 counties in Alabama and Northwest Florida from Clanton all the way to the Gulf Coast. Today McNeill, Inc. is still owned and operated by the McNeill family and provides concrete, burial vaults, septic tank systems and other concrete related products from plants in Montgomery, Andalusia and Florala.

In addition to his passion for hard work, Mr. McNeill was an avid walking horse breeder, trainer and showman. He joined the Tennessee Walking Horse Breeders & Exhibitors Association in 1977 and was one of it’s oldest members. He has owned several world champion walking horses through the years and has won many honors with his horses. He owned three 2009 World Champions including She's One Hot Tamale, Jazz Country and Last Dollar to name a few.

Mr. McNeill was a member of the Wilbert Burial Vault Manufacturers Association, The National Burial Vault Association, The National Ready Mix Association, The Alabama Walking Horse Association, The Tennessee Walking Horse Breeders and Exhibitors Association and the Alabama Waste Water Board. Mr. McNeill semi-retired several years back but always stayed active in the business until his health forced him to completely retire a few years back. Pallbearers will be Larry Stewart, Randy Wright, Johnny Stewart, Carl Davis, Max Matthews and Tex Smith. The body will lie in state at 5pm Sunday at Foreman Funeral Home.