O'Neal Messick

O'Neal- age 4

  Verbia O'Neal Messick was born in Goshen, Alabama just after midnight on October 15, 1936 to Verbia Travis and Mary Lizzie Messick. He passed away on July 29, 2026. He was the fifth of six children and he took to the farm life early and never let go of that love. His family nickname was “little brother” which eventually became just “brother.” He was known as “Uncle Brother” to his siblings’ children. Uncle Brother was the playful, fun and slightly mischievous uncle. He always said his favorite music was the sound of children playing. For those who knew and loved him the sound of his laughter was as powerful as rumbling thunder and as comforting as blueberry pie.

The Family

    He graduated from Abbeville High School in 1955, where he excelled
in sports playing football, basketball, baseball and track. He received a football scholarship to Troy State where he played fullback. He served for several years in the Alabama National Guard. He always said whenever he was asked what food he wanted delivered to him on a long guard duty he always asked for five tomato sandwiches. You can take the boy out of Abbeville, but you can’t take Abbeville out of the boy. The year 1959 was a good year for the Messicks; he graduated from Troy, got a job teaching math at Baldwin County High School, and married Mary Hazel Oliver on November 26, 1959. His love for math was something he carried his whole life. He was always trying to solve unsolvable problems and he devoured thousands and thousands of Sudoku challenges- the unbearably difficult ones.

O'Neal & Mary Hazel 11/26/59

    He served the community as a Kiwanis member and president. He participated in Disaster Relief projects across the US for over 20 years and was an expert chainsaw operator. He loved to talk about the camaraderie of the men he made those trips with. Of course he also loved to talk about the pranks and humor they shared to help them work in those areas of devastation. He was on the Board of the Baldwin County Federal Credit Union and on the Board of Directors for the Baldwin County Department of Human Resources. He helped build numerous ramps at homes to help families with mobility and safety. O'Neal was a long-time member of the First Baptist Church Bay Minette. 

The man in his element.

    He was an avid gardner. His Bay Minette garden was almost a half acre. He grew an ever changing roster of vegetables for a total of 49 years in Bay Minette and when he moved his family to Foley for 11 years he grew a garden there right across the street from Foley High School. His abundant vegetable garden fed many friends, neighbors and family members for decades. It was his connection to his mother, father and his early years as well as an example to his kids and grandchildren of dedication, hard work and a healthy life. 

The Happy Couple

    He and Mary Hazel got their first jobs together, bought a beach house together, (and lost the lower level to Hurricane Frederic in 1979), shelled a few million peas and pecans together, and raised a family while embracing their community at every opportunity. O’Neal also stayed anchored to his Abbeville family. He never missed a chance to visit there and even raised cows on family land for over 35 years. His call of “c’mon girls” to his cows is a sound that makes all of his family smile. He also used his shockingly perfect peacock call to scare kids and old folks alike. He hummed hymns while reading the paper, watching the Atlanta Braves and at about any time he was in deep thought.

   If you want to find a way to remember or honor O’Neal Messick you could donate to Future at First, First Baptist Church Bay Minette, PO Box 1628, Bay Minette, AL 36507. You might also want to hum a tune, turn off the Braves if they are losing, scare someone and laugh until it hurts or maybe grow a garden and a life that you share with love.

A Celebration of Life: Durwood Porter Avery

    Durwood Porter Avery, lifetime learner, athlete and optimistic fan of humanity lived for over 85 years of mornings, afternoons, evenings and nights. He did not take a day for granted and lived a life of wonder and purpose. He passed away at his home in Troy Alabama on July 12, 2026, surrounded by family. They spent those moments listening to 50’s Doo-Wop music and singing his favorite hymns in addition to retelling his stories of deck watch in the Carribean, bike rides with his kids & grandkids and hiking in California.

High School Sweethearts: Durby & Dee

Friends and family remember “Durby.’ “Uncle Durby,” or “Grandpa Durby" as having a smile and a twinkle in his eye to share with whoever crossed his path. His enthusiasm, positivity, and curiosity were a constant animating force in a life of kindness, happiness and inquisitiveness. 

    Durwood was born in Lakeland, Florida and was raised in Polk City, Florida where he traversed his beloved Green Swamp. He met Delores (Beckham), his “high school sweetheart,” in Auburndale, Florida where they graduated from high school in 1960.  

After their marriage, they set sail for Charleston, South Carolina and the U.S. Navy. Durwood proudly was a member of the U.S. Navy Reserve for his final two years of high school before that. Then it was on to Africa, South America, the Caribbean and an on-deck view of the Cuban Missile Crisis.

                                                                     

    Durwood and Delores raised their children in Fort Meade, Florida where they built a life of community, service, joy and love. He worked for 43 years in the phosphate industry and loved to say he was a part of the green revolution that significantly decreased global malnutrition & hunger.

   

Gasparilla 15K. Tampa, FL. 1996

  At the age of 41, he returned to running as dedicated as he was when he ran track and played football at Auburndale High School. He began to enter triathlons and ran, biked and swam for the next few decades. He inspired so many with his devoted and intense training. He loved to share how his sport helped him in so many aspects of his life. He cherished his athletic comeback story and how it enriched his life with an always growing running and triathlon community. 

He used to say, “make sure you tell them someday that I was ranked 13th in the state of Florida in my age category.” 

    Durwood’s academic pursuits were just as dedicated. He was a card-carrying citizen of the Cosmos. He was interested in astronomy, paleoanthropology, geology as well as politics and economics. His notebooks, laptops and random slips of paper with new information or new YouTube experts were always in use. He loved to say that mankind found its way when it became aware of our ignorance. Or as Niccolo Machiavelli said, “A sign of intelligence is an awareness of one’s own ignorance.”

Sweethearts moved to Troy, AL in 2022

     Durwood leaves behind his wife Delores. They were married for 65 years. Also his son, David (and wife Karen Messick Avery) of Vacaville, California. His daughter Diana Avery (and husband Jerry Slayton) of Troy, Alabama. His three grandsons are Kyle Avery of Chicago, Illinois, Ethan Montgomery of Montgomery, Alabama and Taylor Montgomery of New York City, New York. 

Durwood and Delores were members of the First United Methodist Church of Fort Meade, Florida for many years prior to their move to Troy Alabama in 2022. There they attended Troy Church near the University's campus.      

The family will have a private celebration of the life of “Durby” where they will play his favorite music, and share their stories of a life so very well lived--while laughing, with some tears, and remembering everything that made him so special.

  The family asks that friends of Durwood consider giving to the Hospice Angels Foundation, in affiliation with Compassus Living Foundation, to support their efforts in assisting families of terminally ill patients. On-line donations at HospiceAngels.org or CompassusLivingFoundation.org. Donations may also be made to the Hospice Angels Foundation or Compassus Living Foundation at 3193 Boardwalk Dr., P.O. Box 5197, Saginaw, MI 48603.

Durwood at "Mother Boulder"- Vacaville, CA

Signature Durby pose-- Lake Tahoe

My Dad-- Durwood Avery

 

  

   I took a trip to Kenya & Tanzania with my Dad in 2009. He had been to Africa as a 20-year-old sailor in 1961. I always loved his Capetown and Dakar stories and I jumped on this chance for us to join a group tour with a lot of retired and active teachers.

    Since Dad never fit the mold or danced to the basic drum beat we decided to stay in the tent camp one afternoon when the whole entourage was departing on a sightseeing trip. We had enjoyed those outings, but we needed to sit, rest and just observe. We sat near our “glamping” tent and watched a Maasai man in his bright red traditional garb, casually riding by on a bicycle with a cell phone to one ear. After he passed, a giraffe lumbered past going the opposite way on the same trail. A few minutes later a determined looking child wearing a school uniform walked by with their knapsack.

   We decided to walk around the camp and, as usual, my Dad struck up a conversation with a stranger.  Anyone watching them talk would be sure the two were lifetime friends. The young woman worked at the resort and Dad asked her about her educational interests and so much more. Somehow they got on the subject of women’s rights. He listened to her concerns about equality and opportunity. Dad told her the good, the bad and the ugly of what he had seen play out in America. He challenged her to crash every ceiling, He invited her to come crash ours in America. He connected. He inspired…and not just her.

   

  Durwood Porter Avery is a man that loves humanity. He is a man of science. A man of philosophy. A student of politics and economics. He has devoured every bit of information and debate about paleoanthropology. He got that from his Dad. He ran track in high school. He played football. He reignited his love for running at age 41 and ran a marathon, half-marathons, 5Ks, 10Ks and dozens of triathlons for several decades.  I asked him yesterday what technique he used to block out fatigue, pain, heat and cold. As soon as I asked I already knew what he would say. “I never thought about those things.” That’s not a brag. That is 100% true. I’ve never seen someone with such an ability to focus on what is important and block out the rest. He’s the most optimistic person I’ve ever come across.

  

     Dad hasn't been running lately. He’s 85 and we learned about his cancer almost two years ago when it was at Stage 4. Did he complain? Nope. Worry. Nope. Well maybe a little, but he only let my mom see that. Did he do his research? Yep.  Did he try everything innovative he possibly could– absolutely. He said he was happy yesterday. Twice. He’s in hospice. He has run this race like the champion he has always been.. He has inspired many others who saw him biking in the brutal heat and humidity from Fort Meade, Florida out to all points of the compass. He probably swam with plenty of alligators in lakes all over Polk County. He ran a life that anyone would be proud of. Of all the Dad’s in the history of the world, I got the one that I needed the most. 

 A life of kindness.

Of courage. 

Of curiosity. 

Of love. 

I love you Dad.

A Duct Tape Tale

       Damn it Carl, always the cheap duct tape. Why? Tasha was internally rehashing their old hardware store battle as she wrapped the open, fanged end of the 16-foot surprise. It was a surprise because Carl shouted, with some confidence, that it was a 12-footer as he wrangled the beautiful and horrifying Everglades newcomer. Carl was over 33% off today. This one was 16-feet, 10 inches and 202 pounds. Tasha’s first clue of Carl’s error was something heard in the struggle. Carl blurted out “uh-oh” as the snake circled his legs and waist and began dragging him through ant beds, mud and spider webs into the dark water.

Ryker and Jazzlyn would be wide-eyed and frozen if they were from any other family. But these two had wrestled pythons for years in the heat and humidity…and in the dark. Maybe Dad had misjudged this one, but this was a fight--not-flight family. The predator was looking at four against one odds. She may have taken a few alligators in her life, but not Tasha, Carl and their offspring. This family had a few skills she had never encountered. Part of those 202 pounds in this Burmese Python were 200 future offspring of her own. Pythons are not native to this slow moving river of grass in South Florida, but they hit the swamp running, or at least slithering and rocketed to apex status with exponential population growth.

     

Tasha grew up with Burmese Pythons and heard her parents tell people that the large constrictors were actually docile and just needed “early socialization and consistent handling.” Carl was certainly being handled as Tasha deftly applied the discount duct tape to the mouth of the snake. The teens were in full combat mode themselves. Ryker and Jazzlyn worked like a couple of wrestlers in a cage match and stopped Dad’s deadly slide toward the canal below. Tasha didn’t need to look at her kids to know they were in a flow state of fight, fear, determination while exercising their craft at the near height of their capabilities. As she ripped the tape from the now shut mouth, she took a mental screenshot of the scene that wrapped itself in her mind for life. 

     As the battle ended something like sadness slowly enveloped them but their high would last until early morning. Killing a nearly 17-foot force of nature shouldn’t have been something they did tonight. They should have been on a soccer field sweating under the lights and yelling over the crickets. This predator should never have been released here. But it was, or at least her ancestors were. This mom to be of 200 was born near this canal and she died here. Tasha and Carl have caught dozens of others like her and after this night they will return with more purpose and a tighter family than most–in their unique way.

     As they packed their gear for another night they needed the best from their senses and skills. Ryker had graduated from the family den and was off to college. An unsaid dent in their confidence was hanging over them as they stopped the truck and checked their flashlights. Tasha looked at Carl and saw his stupid grin that she had loved to hate for the last 20 years. “What?” she said. Carl pulled a plastic covered ring of silver from his bag. “Got the good stuff,” he said holding up his duct tape surprise. Tasha and Jazzlyn’s mood broke and their laughter washed over all of them. Tasha looked at Jazzlyn and said, “let’s go.” 

 

The true story:

https://www.yahoo.com/news/science/articles/florida-family-wrangles-second-heaviest-033700511.html

The big story:

https://www.floridamuseum.ufl.edu/earth-systems/blog/florida-vs-the-burmese-python-how-an-invasive-giant-is-changing-the-sunshine-state/