Obituary of Timothy MacNeil

MacNEIL, Timothy Ryan, “Timmy”,“Big Tim”, age 48 of Lantz, passed away on September 4, 2019 in the Colchester East Hants Health Centre in Truro.  Born in Halifax, he was a son of Arthur and Janet (Pelrine) MacNeil, of Lantz.

Besides his parents, Tim is survived by his brother Jeffrey (Donna) MacNeil; sister Darlene (Greg) MacNeil, sister Jill MacNeil; and beloved niece Melody. Also, many aunts, uncles and cousins as well as his extensive extended family in fire service, first responders and in the racing communities at both Atlantic Motorsport Park and Scotia Speedworld.

Timmy was a force field of joy & happiness – always the biggest kid in the room. That’s how we knew him best in the MacNeil house.  

He spent every single Christmas morning in his mother’s living room as all his siblings mostly did - ribbing each other, having a laugh and of course eating; the race to the front of the food line before him was real! 

We will treasure those memories forever.  

Some of you might not know this but in his younger years, spry Timmy was a wicked break dancer – he had moves!  He also played soccer and of course as most locals know, hockey.

Timmy was a protector in many ways to many folks.  We’ve heard endless tales of “Big Tim” and his heroic and hysterical hijinks over the years. Keep them coming!

Timmy was a proud and dedicated Fire Fighter for over 30 years in his beloved home community of East Hants.  In his tenure he achieved and held every office from fire fighter to Chief.  One of his greatest passions was being the chairman of the East Hants Training Committee; influencing the development of all fire fighters in our community. He will be dearly missed by his family at Shubenacadie Fire and Emergency services as well as his previous family at the Lantz Fire station.   

Timmy was Director/Deputy Chief with Medical Rescue Team - where he often bragged about his office view.

Timmy was a fire crew lead hand at the Department of Natural Resources - where the Red Truck was a helicopter!

A leader, a teacher and a mentor to all volunteer fire fighters.  We know he was everyone’s brother, uncle, friend. He had time to chat with you about whatever you needed to chat about.

Special thanks to the nurses and doctors in the ICU who gave their all for Timmy and cared for us with graceful honesty & great compassion. They went above and beyond their call of duty.

Special thanks to Kevin Jodrey for taking care of everything. You are a gift.

Timmy is and always will be Art & Janet’s little boy.

Art, Janet, Jeff, Darlene, Jill & Melody have been comforted greatly by all who share our BIG love for Timmy.  

We’ve always known that Timmy was involved with all the associations he was involved with, but over these past few days, reading the posts and comments; the magnitude of the immeasurable impact he has made on our community, province and world-wide is stunningly obvious.  

Timmy lived a life of selfless service to others!

It’s now our turn: We will take it from here.

Cremation has taken place under the care and direction of Ettinger Funeral Home, Shubenacadie.  A regimental memorial parade and celebration of life will be held in Tim’s honour 2pm Wednesday September 11 at Atlantic Motorsport Park, 266 Racetrack Road, Mill Village. 

A reception will follow in the Shubenacadie Legion, 42 Mill Village Road, Shubenacadie.

Memorial donations may be made to a volunteer fire department of your choice.

Condolences, words of comfort and memories of Tim may be shared with the family at www.ettingerfuneralhome.com