| Sources |
- [S104] Cocke County, Tennessee, and its People, Cocke County Heritage Book Committee, (Walsworth Publishing, 1992), 159, 239.
- [S24] The Newport Plain Talk, (http://www.newportplaintalk.com), 29 Oct 2006.
Just Plain Talk: Shade of Halloween, he's back from the dead
- [S4] Knoxville News-Sentinel (Tennessee), 18 Nov 2000.
O'NEIL, NANCY VIOLA MAE - 53, passed away Friday at her residence following an apparent heart attack. She was a member of the First Baptist Church. She was employed by the Newport Plain Talk as the New Editor. She was preceded in death by her father, Quentin Douglas Lampson.
She is survived by her mother, Irene Sisk Lampson of Newport; cousins, Ann Sane; the Larry Sane family; the Donald Giles family all of Parrottsville; the Duay O'Neil family of Newport; the Phil Neas family of Maryville; Alfreda Sisk McAfee of Johnson City, Tenn.; Lone and Linda Sisk of Knoxville, Paul and Helen Sisk of Atlanta, Ga., Fred and Martha Sisk, of Fredericksburg, Va., Douglas Lampson, and Peggy Lampson both of Cincinnati, Ohio, Edna Smith of Fla.; great aunt, Wilda Scott Mann of Bluefield, West Va.; several other cousins. Funeral service wil be Monday at 10 a.m. at the Brown Funeral Home Chapel with Dr. Charles Boggan and Dr. Rich Lloyd officiating. Interment will be at Union Cemetery. The family will receive friends Sunday evening from 3-6 p.m. at Brown Funeral Home. In lieu of flowers, the family request memorial be made to the First Baptist Church Newport Rescue Squad or the Newport Animal Shelter. Brown Funeral Home is in charge of arrangements.
- [S142] Newspaper Article, The Newport Plain Talk, 19 Nov 2000.
Newport Plain Talk State Editor Nancy L. O?Neil, 53, was found dead at her home in Newport late Friday afternoon.
"We were all stunned by the news of her death from an apparent heart attack. She has been such an important person in our news gathering operations for more than 14 years and did a splendid and thorough job," said Plain Talk Co-Publisher/Editor David Popiel.
O?Neil had been ill since Election Day, suffering from flu-like symptoms. She was also a diabetic and required insulin.
On Monday, November 13, she covered the report by the Cocke County Grand Jury and last worked in the office on Tuesday after filing police and sheriff?s department reports.
"We knew that she remained ill, and she told us that she would not be in for work. Her mother, Irene Lampson, has been receiving rehabilitation care in Morristown, so Nancy was alone at her home. I became worried when we had not heard from her and asked our staff to check on her Friday," said Popiel.
She was expected to pick up her mother in Morristown Friday but didn?t show up.
"We contacted the police and went to her home where she was found seated in a chair in her apartment dead. Detectives George Grooms and Maurice Shults checked the house and contents and said that there were no signs of anything unusual and believed she had died of natural causes," said Popiel.
A cousin, Duay O?Neil, a frequent writing contributor to the Plain Talk, went to Morristown Friday night to tell Mrs. Lampson of the death of her only daughter.
O?Neil had joined the newspaper in 1986 as lifestyles editor and later moved into news reporting as assistant news editor, news editor, and became state editor this summer.
Her duties included covering the courts, crime reporting, general assignments, and state news as it related to Cocke County.
Cocke County Commissioner Michael McCarter, who is also a spokesman for the sheriff?s department said, "She is going to be sadly missed. The courtroom won?t be the same without her. She was a good writer and obviously enjoyed her work.
"She was a boon and big help to us at the sheriff?s department and the legislative body to help present the truth and the facts. I may have disagreed with her, but she always wrote the facts.
"Sheriff D. C. Ramsey and the staff and myself send our condolences to Mrs. Lampson and the family. She was highly respected by law enforcers," he said.
She was a native of Cocke County, the daughter of Irene Sisk Lampson and the late Quentin Lampson.
She graduated from Cocke County High School and attended Carson-Newman College and graduated from Knoxville Business College.
Her first newspaper job was as a tape-punch operator for the Tullahoma News. She later moved to Georgia and then lived in Germany for about 10 years.
When she returned to Newport, she worked for Kroehler Manufacturing, Gary Schroder Chair Company, and Lemmy Wilson Livestock Market.
"We had lost to cancer our lifestyles editor for many years, Shirley Elliott, and our then co-publisher, Nancy Petrey, hired and trained Nancy O?Neil. She was a natural and loved journalism," said Popiel.
One of her major interests was local history and genealogy, which she shared with Duay O?Neil, when the two collaborated on the book, Sacred to the Memory: Cocke County Tennessee Cemetery Records.
She has also been involved in other genealogical/historical books such as Cocke County Tennessee and Its People; The Gentle Winds of Change: Sevier County Tennessee 1900 to 1930; Reflections of Our Heritage; In the Shadow of the Smokies: Sevier County, Tennessee Cemetery Records.
She was a charter member of the William Cocke Chapter, National Society Daughters of the American Revolution and has held many state chairs. In 1983, she was named State Outstanding Junior Member.
She was registrar of the Thomas Nelson Paige Chapter of the United Daughters of the Confederacy, and was one of the people who were involved in forming an organization of descendants of Union veterans.
She was also active in the Cocke County Republican Party, member of the board of directors of the Newport/Cocke County Museum, past president and member of the Newport Lioness Club and Newport Business Women?s Club.
A long-time supporter and friend of the Newport Rescue Squad, she served on its board. She had a love for photography and enjoyed traveling into the national parks and forests to photograph its creeks and wildlife.
The family will receive friends Sunday from 3 to 6 p.m. at Brown Funeral Home with the funeral service on Monday at 10 a.m. at Brown Funeral Home Chapel.
- [S147] Find a Grave, (Memorial: 50234831).
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