Neva and John Wood Redman

In Loving Memory Of

Neva (Wood) and John Redman

A joint graveside service for John, Neva and Richard will be held at 2:00 p.m., on Saturday, May 25, 2019, at Andrew cemetery, Friend with Pastor Paxaio Baptista officiating.

Neva (Wood) Redman, 94, passed away March 18, 2019, Palm Desert, CA.  She was born August 20, 1924, to Thomas and Vivian (Gavin) Wood on the family farm one mile south of Friend, the youngest of three children.   

John was born to Frank and Cora Redman in Friend on April 30, 1922 and passed away in 2006.

Neva and John both graduated from Friend High School.  Neva with the class of 1942 and John with the class of 1940. Neva enjoyed spending time with her friends at the Friend swimming pool and roller skating in the San Carlo Opera House and dancing at Tuxedo Park.  Neva and John became friends in grade school and then were high school sweethearts. 

Neva attended business school in Lincoln until it was closed because of the war. She then moved to Fremont with her parents and worked at the Mead Ordinance Plant for a short time before transferring to the Fairmont Air Base.  When John returned from serving in the South Pacific during WWII, as a pharmacist mate, they were united in marriage on May 8,1945.  Together they made their home in Omaha until the blizzard of ’48-’49 encouraged them to move to California, settling in Alameda where they raised their family.  John was employed at the Alameda Times Star Newspaper for 28 years, retiring in 1976 and received his 60-year pin from the International Typographical Union.  Although they made their home in California, Friend held a special place in their hearts and they never forgot the town they grew up in and they returned to Friend many times to visit and attended 33 of the Alumni Banquets.

A full-time mother as her children were growing up, Neva did return to work and was employed at the Great Western Savings and Loan in Alameda until 1976 when she and John both retired and moved to Boulder Creek in the Santa Cruz mountains. They enjoyed 20 years of traveling in their motor home, including all the US states, Baja, Mexico, eastern Canada and Nova Scotia. In 1999, they retired from traveling, settling in Palm Desert, CA. where John passed away on September 27, 2006, after a short illness of Leukemia.    

She is survived by her daughter Barbara Redman Morris, of Rancho Mirage, California, son-in-law John Edward Morris, five grandchildren, Eric Burtleson and John Marshall Morris, of California, Frank Morris, Chuck and Julie Marie Morris, and Leigh Ann (Morris) and Brad Caldwell, of Louisville, Ky., five great-grandchildren, Nick Burtleson, MacKenzie Burtleson, Alexa Morris, Ryan Morris and Charlotte Morris, one great-great grandchild, Alice Burtleson and many nieces and nephews.

Neva was preceded in death by her husband of 61 years, John Redman, a daughter, Julie Redman Morris (John Edward’s wife), son, Richard Wood Redman, son-in-law Charles Morris (Barbara’s husband), brother, Thomas Wood Sr. and sister, Marilyn Wood Delfs.  John was preceded in death by his parents, two sisters and one brother. 

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