Mr. Neill Franklin Leslie, 88

Eastover

Neill Franklin Leslie, Sr. died peacefully at home on Monday, April 17, 2017. It was his 88th birthday. He was born in 1929 to Mary Eliza Murphy and Neill Patrick Leslie in Eastover. He was their third child although his brother and sister both died as infants before he was born. His father died when he was 10 years old.

“Handsome Hank” graduated from Central High School in 1947. After graduation he worked at Point News in Fayetteville and the Public Works Commission. He married Euna Evelene Leslie in 1951 and soon after received his draft notice. He enlisted in the Air Force and served three years as a helicopter maintenance instructor before receiving an Honorable Discharge due to his mother’s illness and subsequent death. He returned home to Fayetteville and worked for Hunter Brothers Electrical Supply for 18 years. He then worked for the US Postal Service for two years before becoming an electrical inspector for Cumberland County. He retired after 18 years in that position. He and Evelene celebrated 65 years of marriage prior to her death on May 7, 2016.

Franklin was very involved in his church and community. He served on the Eastover Volunteer Fire Department for 20 years and was a sworn special deputy with the Cumberland County Sheriff’s Department under Sheriff Otis Jones. He frequently came to the aide of family and friends in need of any type of repair work, especially involving electronics.

He is survived by a son Neill Franklin Leslie, Jr. of Wade; daughter Carol Leslie Hudson and husband Donald of Eastover; three grandchildren, Jillian Leslie Pope and husband Wiley, Neill Franklin Leslie III (Trey), and Leslie Elena Hudson; sisters-in-law Alice Black Williams and Helen Autry Williams; brother-in-law John Buchannan and 18 nieces and nephews.

Funeral services will be held at 2:00 pm Saturday, April 22, 2017 at Salem United Methodist Church in Eastover. Officiating will be David Beck. Interment will follow at Lafayette Memorial Park in Fayetteville. The family will receive friends at the church from 12:30 pm to 1:45 pm on Saturday before the service.

In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to Salem United Methodist Church, 2165 Middle Road, Eastover, NC 28312.

Services entrusted to Butler Funeral Home, 6535 Clinton Road, Stedman.