Denton Mayor Perry McNeill welcomes growth, but strives to maintain city’s ambience

by Minnie Payne

DENTON — Denton Mayor Perry McNeill, 71, is a charmer. He is indeed a well-educated, well-experienced, hard-working man and the city of Denton is fortunate to have him.

“Life has been fun,” he said.

And you get the feeling that all those years, from 1989 to 2006, that he was educating students at the University of North Texas and all those years, from 1964 to 1986, that he was educating students at Oklahoma State University, were fun. He also taught at the University of Southern Colorado for two years. Not only does his resume list teaching and administrative duties, but research contracts with outside agencies and industrial firms. He is also a licensed professional engineer in the states of Texas and Oklahoma.

McNeill was born in Princeton, W. Va. and lived in many different places in West Virginia until he was 13 years old when his family moved to Orange, Calif.

“I attended grades eight, nine and 10 in California until we moved to Honolulu, Hawaii in 1952,” he said. “I graduated from Teddy Roosevelt High School in Honolulu in 1954.”

He said his father, a West Virginia University graduate with a master’s degree, was a zoologist with the government, thus the many moves.

“After graduation from high school, my parents brought me back to California to enroll me in college in 1954, but instead I slipped off and enlisted in the air force where I served nearly four years,” McNeill said. “I married my wife while in service and after my stint in the air force, we lived in Velma, Okla. where I drove a Fairmont Milk Truck and sold milk to grocery stores.”

He said that he sold milk for not quite a year and realized that if he was ever going to do anything with his life he would have to go to college, so he took his wife and new baby and moved to Stillwater, Okla. where he enrolled in Oklahoma State University.

“Although I had been a terrible student in grammar and high school, when I started to Oklahoma State, I became serious and made honor roll most of my semesters,” he said.

McNeill earned all his degrees from Oklahoma State University, the first being an associates degree in 1962; a Bachelor of Science in mathematics, graduating Phi Kappa Phi, in 1965; a Master of Science with emphasis in mathematics and electrical engineering in 1967; and a doctorate with emphasis on teaching engineering technology in 1973. He was a member of Pi Mu Epsilon, a honor society for math students.

“When I first started to school, I took advantage of the GI Bill of Rights and worked shelving books in the library for 55 cents an hour,” he said. “My parents had planned to help us, but my father passed away during first semester.”

He said his wife, June, went to work and put him through college, working even after a second child was born.

“I officially retired from UNT in 2001 and did modified service until 2006 when I totally retired from UNT,” McNeill said. “I retired from Oklahoma State University in 1986 at age 50.”

He said he had always been interested in politics, because he thought it’s what a good citizen should do. But his interest in Denton City Government came about when he became a representative of UNT to the Denton Chamber of Commerce.

“When I came to UNT part of my assignment was to establish a Bachelor of Science Degree in electronics engineering technology,” he said. “Part of that assignment was that I had to acquire the city’s help, so I approached the Chamber of Commerce.”

After five years he said he became Chairman of the Board of Directors and met a lot of business men in town.

“In 2001 there were a lot of warring groups in town, and I, along with a lot of other people, thought we should heal the situation, so I ran for city council” he said. “It has taken us a while, but I think we’re in pretty good shape now.”

The mayor’s position is strictly on a volunteer basis, he said.

“The mayor and council members get reimbursed for mileage and other expenses that they encounter on behalf of the city,” McNeill said. “I have an office in city hall and all administrative expenses are covered.”

Being mayor is an honor and privilege, he said.

“It’s a great city and we have wonderful goals; my goal as mayor is to welcome growth, but not let it overwhelm us,” he said. “I want Denton to maintain its great charm and ambience.”

Compared to sister cities in the metroplex, he said that Denton is complete in that it has higher education, retail, and manufacturing.

“I’m also chair of a committee to make Denton a Medical Destination (“Denton MD”),” he said.

McNeill said that a lot of big projects in development are presently taking place in the city.

“The Fry Street area is of big concern right now,” he said.

In terms of the Denton ISD, he said that the city has quarterly meetings with the school board.

“We’re also anxious to work with our two universities,” he said. “Presently with UNT we have a number of contracts where we’re doing research with the environment, and TWU has started a wellness program in which we hope to have city employees participate.

“Since we’re self-insured, we are trying to make people healthy and there is an opportunity for us to work with TWU’s Dr. Nancy DiMarco on these wellness activities for our employees.”

Dr. DiMarco has been Director for Women’s Health since 2005 and has been working on the wellness program for over a year. .

“The Sport and Evaluation Program is a part of the Exercise Sports and Nutrition Clinic,” Dr. DiMarco said. “Because the city is self-insured, it’s looking at what we're trying to provide in low-cost risk assessments for lifestyle related diseases.

“We are doing risk assessments for cardiovascular disease, obesity and diabetes.”

McNeill has been married to his wife, June, 51 years, and they have two daughters, Michelle Ann, 48, and Tracy Lynette, 45. They also have four grandchildren and two great grandchildren.