Neva Blanche Gielow
Published 12:02 pm Wednesday, May 21, 2025
Neva Blanche Belcher Gielow passed away on Sunday, May 18th, peacefully and surrounded by her loving family and friends. Neva was a long-term member of Holy Trinity Lutheran Church in Bowling Green.
She was primarily a Homemaker and proud Mother and Grandmother. Neva was born in Monroe, Louisiana on 12 March 1933. Her father, Robert Belcher, died the following year, and her mother, Leone McQuiller Belcher, died when Neva was 7. She was raised by her maternal grandmother, Veneva Vaughn McQuiller Lewis Troxell, in Rock Island, Illinois. It was here that Neva met and married (1954) Robert H. Gielow, an identical twin.
Robert served in the US Air Force, which moved the family to several locations in the United States as well as to France. Neva’s oldest child, Robert Jr., was born on 08 April 1957 in Fontainebleau France. Josiana was born on 22 September 1961 at Chanute Air Force Base in Rantoul, Illinois. Robert retired from the USAF in 1979 while the family was living in Mascoutah, Illinois.
After high school graduation, Robert, Jr. moved to Washington State, and Josie moved to Springfield, Illinois. Bob and Neva moved to Bowling Green, Kentucky in 1981 where Robert went to work for a local law firm and Neva enrolled in Western Kentucky University. Neva graduated with a degree in psychology and worked in the WKU Career Services Center for several years. Neva was a matriarch of the Bowling Green theatre community.
She was a long-time actor, director, and board member for Fountain Square Players, with her favorite and most memorable role being that of “Bernice Clifton” in the stage version of Designing Women. Neva had impeccable comic timing and enjoyed making people laugh, on and off the stage. Her final stage appearance was with the Public Theatre of Kentucky in its Kentucky Voices presentation of Tea and Empathy, a staged reading of the poetry and prose of her friend, Dr. James D. Skaggs.
Neva leaves behind a son, Robert H Gielow, Jr. (Teresa) of Gold Canyon, Arizona; a daughter, Josiana R Schaller (Bruce) of Overland Park, Kansas; three grandchildren, Diane (Derrick) Bates, Keith (Marcie) Schaller, Michelle (Bryan) Fish; and four great-grandchildren (Daxon, Delton, Charlotte, Lucas), all in the Kansas City area. Neva’s only sibling, a half-brother (Donald) died in 1965. Extended family include a niece Debbie Parsons in Florida, a nephew, Jimmy Gielow (deceased) in North Carolina, and 3 grand nieces and nephews.
A memorial service for Neva Blanche Gielow will be 12:00 pm Saturday, May 31, 2025 at Holy Trinity Lutheran Church, 553 Ashmoor Ave, Bowling Green, KY 42101.
Visitation at the church will be from 11:00 am Saturday the 31st until the service time. Arrangements have been entrusted to J.C. Kirby & Son Lovers Lane Chapel.
