Visitation and funeral services for Michael Neely (1938-2016).

"Alleluia" by Randall Thompson (1899 - 1984), performed by the South Dakota State University Concert Choir at the Spring Festival of Music at the Performing Arts Center at South Dakota State University. April 23rd, 2010.

Getting this one right was a high school highlight. It was better than running the offense, and a close second to getting served. Nail it, and Mr. Neely would flash a grin you'd never forget.

And I haven't forgotten.

Michael Neely (full obituary)

Nov 7, 1938 - Nov 7, 2016

Visitation will be at Floyd Central High School (enter through Door #1), 6575 Old Vincennes Road, Floyds Knobs on Sunday, November 13 from 3-8:p.m. Visitation will continue at St. Marks United Church of Christ, 222 E. Spring Street, New Albany from 12:00-2 p.m. on Monday, November 14 with the funeral to begin at 2 p.m. Arrangements have been entrusted to the Market Street Chapel of Seabrook Dieckmann & Naville.

Memorial contributions: Floyd Central High School Choral Department or University of Louisville Choral Department.

R.I.P. Mick Neely.

Word began circulating this morning that Michael "Mick" Neely has died, and his son's words are apt.

Yes...the heavens became a lot more fun and the choirs of angels are letting it rip. My dad is there now and everyone is smiling, singing and laughing more than ever. Dad went there exactly 78 years, to the day, after he got here and he made this world a far better place, for sure. The greatest man I ever knew or will know.

There is no calculus for determining the influence this man had with generations of students, not just in music, but in life. Along with the late Bob Youngblood, Mick was a tremendous formative influence on me.

Mick warned each graduating class of choir members that if they didn't continue singing, it would be something sorely missed later in their lives. He was right. I've never known teamwork and camaraderie like that since, and likely won't experience it again.

Goodbye to a great, great man. He was Mr. Floyd Central to many of us. Our thoughts are with his family.

O magnum mysterium ... back about 1977.

I heard "O magnum mysterium" (Tomas Luis de Victoria, 1572) this morning on 90.5 FM, and it utterly floored me. Maybe it was the rain and the seasonal blahs, but what a sucker punch! Recollections of my bass part are fading after almost 35 years, but the many fond memories of high school choir came rushing back. Thanks yet again to Mick Neely for teaching me this music.

Mick!

The Courier-Journal's Dale Moss profiles Michael "Mick" Neely, former Floyd Central music teacher, and one of the single most influential persons during my high school years.

Floyd choir leader Michael Neely cannot stop teaching

... Neely is also described as lovable, a never-at-a-loss storyteller, a salt-of-the-earth type just as comfortable with a chainsaw as he is with a keyboard. He coached sports as well as directed choirs; little wonder he runs into thankful people wherever he goes.

I'm certainly one of these thankful people.

Exceptions to every rule.

"Ring Christmas Bells" just played on WUOL, and it prompted a smile and a shout-out, because it reminds me of Michael Neely, my high school choral director. Mick always warned us that later in life, we'd regret taking singing for granted, and we scoffed, but of course he was right.

Thirty years of beer and tobacco have rendered me into little more than an interpreter of songs, and rest assured, the interpreting occurs well out of human earshot. Our cats suffer the most.

Funny. The only Christmas songs I really enjoy are the same ones we sang back in the day. Holiday greetings to Mick. Your legacy makes the season tolerable for me.

The preceding might be classified as playing against type for maximum dramatic effect, but elsewhere today, I'm in customary form: Mug Shot: Smoke 'em on up, Santa (LEO).