Neal John Wingenbach, 45, of Houston, Texas, died suddenly Saturday, June 30, 2018, in his home. He was born on April 19, 1973, in Buffalo, NY. He was a devoted father and an avid fisherman. He graduated from Cypress Creek High School and attended Louisiana Tech and Texas A&M. He graduated from the University of Houston.
He is survived by his beautiful children, his son Carson, 11 and his daughter Marley, 9. Neal is also survived by his mother, Diane Wingenbach and his sister, Juliet Wingenbach. He is preceded in death by his father, John Wingenbach. There are several aunts, uncles, and cousins in the Buffalo area.
While attending Louisiana Tech on an engineering scholarship, he was the first freshman to be offered a paid Summer Internship with Anadarko. He spent his summers working in the oil fields in West Texas, Kansas and Wyoming. After a change of heart, he decided to change his major and try his luck in the upcoming field of technology. He started in customer support at Dell in Austin and moved up very quickly from there. During his tenure at Dell he was transferred to Seattle and was proud to tell everyone that Microsoft and Amazon were his clients. He continued to work in technology moving over to sales and returned to Houston in 2010. Sales was a natural fit as he never met a stranger, just like his Dad.
Neal was incredibly active in his community especially his children’s school, Poe Elementary. He was a co-founder of the Poe Dad’s Club and helped with numerous beautification projects around the school.
Neal appreciated all kinds of music. He started a radio show in College Station in 1995 with Grateful Dead music after seeing the last Grateful Dead show in Chicago. After moving to Houston, he brought it over to KPFT. He enjoyed sharing this love of music with others and touched many lives in the process.
Neal loved the outdoors and passed on this love to his children. He was an enthusiastic jogger and cyclist, sometimes riding up to 30 miles at a time. He was on the Atascocita Swim Team with his sister, fostering a lifetime love of all things related to water. He played football, baseball, basketball and even tried soccer growing up and this fostered a lifelong following of most major sports.
He had a wonderful sense of humor which many of his friends and family enjoyed throughout his life. This is one of his many wonderful qualities that will be missed by many. He had an uncanny ability to laugh at himself and share the funniest stories. He enjoyed traveling and shared places he went as a child with his own children.
There will be a visitation on Wednesday, July 18 from 5-7PM at Bradshaw-Carter Funeral Home, 1734 W. Alabama St, Houston, TX 77098. His funeral will be at 2 PM on Thursday, July 19, at Bradshaw-Carter Funeral Home, followed by a Celebration of Life.
The Neal Wingenbach Children Education Benefit Fund at Frost Bank, 1-800-562-6732, has been established for those wishing to contribute to the education of Carson and Marley.