22 Jan 1983 – 19 Aug 2005
4th-Great-Grand-Daughter of Philip Cardon and Martha Marie Tourn
3rd-Great-Grand-Daughter of Louis Phillippe Cardon and Susette Stalé
2nd-Great-Grand-Daughter of Louis Pual Cardon and Ellen Clymena Sanders
Great-Grand-Daughter of Isabelle Cardon and Lyle Hilton
Grand-Daughter of Lyle Kent Hilton and Rochelle Maurine Rhead
Daughter of Janelle Hilton and Steven Stuart Neil
Rachael Neil, 22, of Mesa, died on Friday, August 19, while playing in the Merced River in Yosemite National Park.
Rachael was born in Phoenix on January 22, 1983, to Steven and Janelle Neil and is big sister to Michelle, 20, Matthew, 18, Emily, 16, Nathanael, 14, Jared, 12, David, 10, and Adam, 8.
Rachael graduated from Westwood High School in 2001 and was a senior at Brigham Young University in Provo, Utah. She loved to sing and dance and play and hike and learn and serve. She loved people and adventures, and she was an inspiration to all who knew her.
A memorial service was held for her on Saturday, August 27, at 10:00 am at The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints on Lehi and Horne.
Rachael Neil, 22, of Mesa. Arizona was hiking with friends on the John Muir Trail above Nevada Fall. Neil slipped while jumping from rock to rock about ¼ mile above the waterfall and was pulled down stream and underwater by the swift current. Despite attempts by search and rescue personnel, deep holes and high water conditions in the Merced River have prevented her body from being recovered. Recovery attempts will resume when water levels in the Merced River recede.
City of Mesa Cemetery, Mesa, Maricopa County, Arizona
