Leading up to St. Paul’s 150th anniversary, let’s take a look at some of the former church members. Looking around the church we see many plaques that name former members of the congregation who are memorialized by their gifts to the glory of God and in remembrance of loved ones.
The choir stalls at St. Paul’s are dedicated to the memory of John Mason Neale, 1818-1866. He was an English clergyman who is best known for his translations of Greek and Latin hymns. He also wrote some hymns himself. In fact his name is attached to forty-five hymns that appear in our hymnal.
The reason that the English clergyman is remembered at St. Paul’s is because his son was a dedicated churchman who was both a vestryman and Diocesan representative of St. Paul’s. Vincent Neale and his wife Eliza were born in England. Shortly after they married, they came to the United States in1877. The couple lived at 1348 Grand Ave. in San Rafael. Vincent was a successful lawyer and practiced in San Francisco. He was involved in many civic activities. He served on the San Rafael Library Board for twenty-five years. He was president of the San Rafael Improvement Club and also was a supporter of women’s right to vote. His wife Eliza was a stalwart suffragette.
He died at the age of eighty-two in 1927. His funeral service was at St. Paul’s. He had previously chosen his funeral hymns and many of them were attributed to his father, John Mason Neale. There is a pew on the right side of the church in memory of both Eliza and Vincent Neale.
In Vincent Neale’s obituary in the local newspaper, he was described as “a well known and interested citizen of San Rafael, a gentleman of the old school, kindly, democratic, scholarly.”
~By Joy Moss