Go instead where there is no path and leave a trail.
DARWINA L. NEAL
1942
2021
Life is a tapestry woven of people and experiences. And throughout my life, I’ve been very fortunate that I’ve worked with many talented and dedicated friends, who have helped make my tapestry a more beautiful one.
Darwina L. Neal
Obituary
Darwina L. Neal, 79, of Washington, DC died peacefully in her sleep the morning of September 4, 2021, with sunshine in the room and the doors flung open to her garden overlooking Meridian Hill Park. As the news of her passing quickly spread through family, friends, and colleagues, many serendipitous toasts of sadness and kinship were made skyward.
Darwina was delivered by her paternal grandfather, the town doctor, at home on a dairy and poultry farm in Mansfield, Pennsylvania in 1942 to Darwin and Ina (Cooke) Neal. She graduated from Mansfield High School and then attended Penn State University to study Horticulture. She later switched to Landscape Architecture and was only one of two women in the entire class. After graduation she became only the third woman Landscape Architect to work for the National Park Service, where she continued to work for her entire career of 44 years.
