Oneita Porter

A Funeral Service for Oneita "Neets" Porter, 85, will be held Thursday, July 24, 2025, at 11:00 a.m., at the Long Grove Community Church, 1110 Robert Parker Coffin Road, Long Grove, 60047, in the historic 177 years old chapel with the steeple. Immediately after the service the burial will take place in the Long Grove Community Church Cemetery. Parking is available in the huge parking lot across the street.

After the funeral and burial there will be a luncheon held locally in downtown, Long Grove.

Neets passed away peacefully at home on July 9, 2025.

Neets was born in Centerville, Iowa, the only child of her loving parents, Bernice and Bud Craver. She attended Exline Methodist Church, where she was baptized, played the piano, and was president of the Methodist Youth Fellowship. She was active in many high school activities, played on the basketball team, and graduated as salutatorian of her class. She received an academic scholarship to Drake University and went on to further her education at Lake Forest College.

She married Patrick Francis, and they had a daughter, Peggi, who was the light of her life. Patrick died in a car accident, leaving Neets to raise Peggi on her own. She found employment in several interesting and challenging careers, first as the executive assistant to AC Nielsen of the Nielsen Corporation, then as the right hand of legendary producer Michael Butler, and eventually as a real estate agent with McKee Realtors in Long Grove.

In 1988, she met David Porter, a widower, introduced by mutual friends on the tennis courts at Exmoor Country Club. They shared many similar interests and were married in 1990 on a small island in the Adriatic Sea. For 33 years, they spent their summers and holidays in Long Grove in the home they loved so dearly, and wintered in Florida at their home in Bay Hill. They enjoyed playing golf, traveling the world, and keeping close to Neets’s relatives in Iowa.

In 2017, Peggi passed away, which left Neets heart-broken and devastated. In 2023, she lost her beloved husband David. His children encouraged her to continue in their plan to move to Lake Forest Place. In the few years she spent there, she met many new friends and connected with old ones. She especially loved laughing and socializing while playing bingo and mahjong.

She is survived by her 3 devoted stepchildren, Lindsay Porter (Matt Kozlowski), Sarah Marton (Matt), and John Porter (Natasha). They grew especially close in the years after David’s death. She truly enjoyed being Nana to their children, Larimer, Graham, Griffin and Emerson Porter, Oakley and Cooper Marton, and CJ Kozlowski.

In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the Sarcoidosis Foundation, 320 W. Ohio St, #300, Chicago, IL 60654.