Visitation: No prior visitation.
Service: A memorial service will be held at a later date. MCPARTLAN – Neal F.
Of Cheektowaga, NY, passed away
October 17, 2020, at age 66, after a
long illness. Beloved husband of Nancy
G. (Roller) McPartlan; beloved son
of the late James H. McPartlan and
the late Louise (Frentzel) McPartlan;
loving father of Michael F. McPartlan,
Esq. (fiancée Sherry Wawrowicz),
Brandon D. McPartlan and Erin (Luke)
Copping; adored grandfather of Trinity
McPartlan, Bodhi McPartlan, Vivienne
Copping and Alistair Copping; loving
brother of James H. (Sharon) McPartlan
Jr., Kevin M. (Mary Ellen) McPartlan,
Kathleen (late Arthur) Kuczmanski, the
late Margaret (late Robert) Galuski,
Joseph A. McPartlan, Maureen (late
Jose) Rivera and Robert E. McPartlan;
beloved brother-in-law of Linda (Jerry)
Smith, Jackie (Jim) Chiswell and Lynn
McPartlan; also survived by many
loving nieces and nephews including
fond Godson James T. McPartlan
and many close friends. Neal worked
his entire life at the family business,
McPartlan’s Corner. Neal was a past
commodore of Inner Harbor Yacht Club
and an avid hunter and outdoorsman.
Flowers gratefully declined. Donations
may be made in Neal’s memory to the
Jonah Center For Medical Oncology
and Chemotherapy at ECMC, 462
Grider St, Suite 17, Buffalo, NY 14215.
No prior visitation. For the convenience
of the family, a Memorial
Service will
be held at a later date. Arrangements
by DIETRICH FUNERAL HOME, INC.
Online condolences may be shared at
www.TheDietrichFuneralHome.com Oct. 4, 1954 – Oct. 17, 2020 Neal F. McPartlan was born one year before his parents opened the first McPartlan’s Corner in South Buffalo. He started work there around age 8 "peeling potatoes, breading fish, making the coleslaw by hand with a cheese grater, whatever Grandpa told him to do," said his son, Michael F. McPartlan. Mr. McPartlan and his seven siblings continued to work in the business after it opened at 669 Wehrle Drive in 1971. His jobs included busboy, bartender, cook and eventually manager of the kitchen and co-owner with his four brothers. Mr. McPartlan, of Cheektowaga, died Oct. 17, 2020, in Erie County Medical Center after a four-year illness. He was 66. He was born in South Buffalo, the second youngest of five sons and three daughters ofJames H. McPartlan and Louise Frentzel McPartlan. He graduated from South Park High School in 1973. After the senior McPartlans opened the tavern with an active kitchen, all their children chipped in to help, said Michael McPartlan. "To grandpa, the food had to be perfect," especially gravy and soups, which continue to be specialties at McPartlan’s Corner, said Michael McPartlan, an attorney who tends bar five nights a week in the family business. As Neal McPartlan learned from his parents – "my grandmother was a fantastic cook," Michael McPartlan said – he passed along his culinary knowledge to his employees. "To this day, I have cooks that worked at the tavern when they were young come and tell me, ‘I learned more from working with your father than I learned from working anywhere else,’ " said McPartlan. Mr. McPartlan honed his chili and spaghetti sauce recipes to perfection, his son said. "He took great pride in that." Mr. McPartlan, like his parents and siblings, was "a very, very hard-working man," said his son, noting that McPartlan’s Corner is closed only on Christmas. "He was very devoted to the family business and the family in general and very good at what he did." Mr. McPartlan met Nancy G. Roller when they were both 17. Her father, a bartender in the South Buffalo McPartlan’s Corner, brought his three daughters to visit the McPartlan family’s Crystal Beach cottage. "My father said that within 24 hours of meeting her, he said, ‘I want to marry you and spend the rest of my life with you.’ My mother thought, ‘This guy’s crazy!’ " said Michael McPartlan. When they married on Oct. 9, 1977, some 500 people attended the ceremony and reception, their son said. "My grandfather knew everybody in South Buffalo, but had gotten to know a lot of people at the new location, too," said Michael McPartlan. The business has thrived for so long because of the family’s work ethic, said Michael McPartlan. "At one point, all eight kids worked there," he said. "My father could do every job in the restaurant, back of the house, front of the house, and he never had another job besides working in the family business. He enjoyed working side by side with his father, then with his sisters and always with his brothers." Mr. McPartlan was active in the Inner Harbor Yacht Club, where he served as commodore in 2002. He was also an avid hunter and outdoorsman. Beside his son Michael F., Mr. McPartlan is survived by his wife of 43 years, Nancy G. Roller McPartlan; another son, Brandon D.; a daughter, Erin Copping; four brothers, James H. Jr., Kevin M., Joseph A. and Robert E. McPartlan; two sisters, Kathleen Kuczmanski and Maureen Rivera; and four grandchildren. A memorial service will be held at a later date.