The Vineyard Gazette – Martha’s Vineyard News

Kenneth Howard Neagle Jr. died peacefully at house in Vineyard Haven on Jan. 13 soon after a prolonged journey with Parkinson’s illness and Lewy system dementia. He was 67. He was an artist, poet, naturalist, biologist, farmer, and a variety and gentle soul.

Ken was born in Winchester on June 4, 1954, the son of Kenneth Howard Neagle and Delores Cuoco. He invested his childhood hiding in the woods and fishing with his brothers and cousins. He lived near equally his maternal and paternal grandparents and remained close to the organic entire world by way of their impact, forever curious about and reverent towards plant and animal daily life. He dedicated to increasing and creating his have food when he could.

He graduated from Virginia Tech, where he examined biology. Afterwards, he enrolled in the great arts department at Murray Point out University in western Kentucky, a state where he lived for a lot more than 30 several years. He labored as a farm hand, chimney sweep, substitute instructor, caretaker and carpenter, as properly as getting a volunteer for the Kentucky Waterways Alliance. At Mammoth Cave National Park, he worked for several yrs carrying out upkeep and historic preservation on the park grounds, trails and in just the caves, a occupation he liked. His perform historical past reflects his several skills and interests, his regard for the ability to make a residing doing straightforward operate, and his determination to staying the two impartial and successful.

On his have smaller farm in Hart County, Ky., he planted 1,000 trees every summertime for 10 decades, creating a forest property for birds and wild animals. On Martha’s Vineyard, where by he lived for the last ten years of his lifetime, he worked seasonally with The Trustees of Reservations and Sheriff’s Meadow Basis, checking shorebirds and protecting mountaineering trails, and he volunteered for The Character Conservancy and the Wintertime Flounder Undertaking.

Ken was a singular human being, nonetheless when the rest of the earth moved around him and listening when no one seen a seem. He experienced a exceptional appreciation for other people and connected with individuals in a genuine, compassionate way. His unbounded laughter produced other individuals smile, and his silent existence impressed serenity. He experienced a want to be in nature each individual working day and would stride into the woods without having a backward look, his extended legs generating it impossible for any person to catch up.

As Ken grew ever more debilitated by Parkinson’s, his wife of 22 yrs, Jane McTeigue, produced it doable for him to live his lifestyle with fullness and pleasure. Above the previous few a long time, he continued to sketch and make collages, introducing to his assortment of found objects from character walks. His operate has been exhibited at the Featherstone Middle for the Arts in Oak Bluffs and Mocha Mott’s in Winery Haven. As his health issues progressed, he discovered group and assistance at the Martha’s Winery Middle for Living, exactly where his treatment and consideration to aspects — in individuals, character, and artwork — were being cherished.

Ken is survived by a wonderful quite a few buddies throughout his travels. The loved ones users whose hearts will have his consist of his spouse Jane McTeigue son Morgen Neagle, daughter in regulation Molly Browne and granddaughter Coco Rose daughter Dorothy Neagle, son in regulation David Weinstein and granddaughter Mae Chook brother Jack Neagle and sister in regulation Lori brother Jay Neagle and his brother Sean Neagle, sister in legislation Niki, niece Alexi and nephew Duke.

Donations can be designed in Ken’s name to the Trustees of Reservations or the Countrywide Forest Foundation.