SAN ANTONIO — Lucille Bernice Neil, 96, of San Antonio died on Sunday, Feb. 14, 2010, in San Antonio of heart failure.

She was born in Muskogee, Okla., on Dec. 9, 1913, and was raised in Parsons with her brother, Neil, and sister, Ollene, who both preceded her in death. She was the daughter of George Larsen, who died in Los Angeles in 1954, and Grace (Slane) Larsen, who died in Parsons in 1963.

She was proud to have been in the drum corps at Parsons High School and she attended Kansas State Teachers College at Pittsburg (now Pittsburg State University). After completing her education, she ventured to New York City and tried out for The Rockettes, but she did not meet the height requirement.

She traveled to Los Angeles and worked for the telephone company while her future husband, Virgil, was assigned at Scholfield Barracks, Hawaii, before World War II. Virgil took a break in service so he could see Lucille, which was fortunate since his next assignment was to have been in the Philippines. Virgil rejoined the Army and married Lucille on May 4, 1942, prior to his reassignment to Europe.

During their marriage, Lucille and Virgil traveled extensively to various destinations in Europe and Japan. They loved to play bridge and loved square dancing, round dancing and ballroom dancing. Mr. Neil died in February 1998. They had two sons, Gregory, who died in August 2004, and Philip, who lives in San Antonio with his wife, Chris, and two daughters, Liz, 18, and Katie, 16.

Lucille was not only a dedicated housewife, but while raising her sons, she worked at Sears, was active in the PTA, taught Sunday school for kindergarten and first grade at the family’s church and was a Cub Scout den mother. Lucille was very active all her life and, at one time or another, was a member of the Red Hat Society, Republican Womens Club, where she had served as president, Air Capital Active People, Wesley Senior Friends, a 30-year member of St. John’s Episcopal Church Altar Guild and the Sears retiree group. She was politically active and had been the Republican committee woman and was proud to have attended Ronald Reagan’s presidential Republican convention as a Kansas delegate. Age caught up with her body, but not her spirit.

Friends may call from 1 to 8 p.m. Friday at Hillside Funeral Home in Wichita, and she will be buried at Memorial Lawn Cemetery in Parsons, where there will be a graveside service at 1 p.m. Saturday.