Kerry Neall
I was born and raised for the first 10 years of my life in several rural towns in Pennsylvania Being a PK we moved around often as my dad was moved between various church districts. A huge change occurred in our family’s life when we transitioned at 10 years old to the Deep South of Mobile AL where my father was sent in the late sixties to integrate a 100% white church where African Americans were not allowed to attend. However, as a result of that move, we have lived in the southeast ever since including Alabama, Georgia, Florida panhandle and Tennessee. I am very grateful for the godly parents and siblings that I have had as they passed on to be a strong Christian heritage and faith. I had opportunity to be involved in multiple faith building experiences, including summer camp work, and international charitable work.
In college, I had opportunity to spend one year abroad in France learning French, which was one of my two majors. I postponed my entrance in medical school for a year after college to be able to spend a year in Thailand, working as a physician’s assistant. After an attending medical school in California at Loma Linda University, and in the process, getting married to my beautiful wife, we moved to Central Florida for residency. During residency, I was fortunate to be chosen chief resident. Upon completion of residency, I took a job at a community hospital, emergency department in Clermont, Florida, where I’ve remained working since. I served 20 years as the medical Director. Currently, we have 42 beds in our emergency department and serve 56,000 patients per year. As such we stay pretty busy.
During these years, we were blessed to have three sons who are now grown and we now have three small grandchildren. These are some of my biggest blessings give us much fulfillment.
Over the years, I have volunteered in a local medical clinic that gives free health care to the medically indigent. I’ve also had opportunity to be involved in multiple medical trips internationally doing charitable work. For the past 13 years I have become very involved in a school and orphanage in Haiti. This ministry currently educates 480 students in grades pre-K through high school. I currently serve as the board chairman of this ministry, which gives me great joy and fulfillment. Until recent gang control of large areas in Haiti made travel there too dangerous, I used to take medical teams to Haiti regularly several times each year. Now we have to support them from afar with shipments and fundraising to support our 48 staff.
I’m looking forward to this opportunity in Cheyenne Wells to meet many of you. I’ve heard many good things about your hospital and town through my nephew Dr. Daniel Reynolds. I should point out that he and I share a common family trait which is that we are both very tall. We have many tall genes in our family with many tall relatives some of whom are taller than we are.