Eldon was born into a loving family in Malagash, Nova Scotia and was proud to say he lived there all his life. His parents, Nelson and Isabel (Murray) MacNeill were farmers. They passed on a love and respect for the land to their three boys; Kenley, Eldon and Ian.

Eldon spent his early years enjoying the beautiful place he called home. He loved swimming,riding his bike and learning to farm. He was seeding the fields from the back of the tractor before he ever went to school, and was driving the tractor by the time he was seven. Eldon had a deep connection to the land and an abiding love of the view of the bay. He could tell from the wind direction and cloud formation over the bay when the weather would get to the farm.

After a childhood of farming, swimming and avoiding French class; "I don't need to speak French to drive fenceposts!", he met Darlene Blackie and that was it for Eldon. It was time to get married and have a family; Neil (Tamara), Heather (Jason), Robert (Michelle) and Cindy (Chris) followed. Grandchildren (Kaylee (Michael), Krystalynn, Jesse, Keighan, Samantha (Noah), Jackie (Isiah), May, Dongjae and George) and great-grandchildren (Owen and Ethan, Rosemary and Jasmine) would become the continuing joy of Eldon's life.

As his family grew, so did the kinds of work Eldon did to provide for his family. He farmed, processed pulp wood, drove a school bus, drove many trucks for Herb Waugh - a man he admired greatly, and delivered loads of fish from the Sydney ferry terminal. Much of this driving saw Darlene going along for the trip. One such trip included kids sleeping on the "bench seat" - which was a board with a pillow on it stretched between the two bucket seats of a dump truck! This sums up Eldon and Darlene's devotion for each other; which has always been evident to their children - always a team and there for one another, even when they disagreed.

Eldon was always more than happy to share his knowledge; words of wisdom to his children and their families and family stories with anyone who was interested. His recollections of local residents from his lifetime in Malagash always made for interesting tales.

Eldon passed peacefully at home surrounded by family, with a view of the bay he loved so much. He was granted his fondest wish to live his entire life in Malagash, which he considered to be God's Country. Besides his parents, he was predeceased by his brother Kenley (Dorothy), sister-in-law Nancy Alstrup, brother's-in-law David and Ian Blackie and Ron Nolet, mother-in-law Marjorie Stevens, father-in-law George Blackie, and step father-in-law Wilfred Stevens. The family would like to thank all the people who helped to care for Eldon over recent months, making it possible for him to stay at home. Special thanks to nursing staff at the Lillian Fraser Memorial Hospital in Tatamagouche and to Martha Ferguson and the VON Palliative Care Unit. A special acknowledgement to Canadian Blood Services and the generous donors; transfusions allowed Eldon to stay with his family as long as possible, for which we are exceedingly grateful. Donations can be made to the Canadian Blood Services (by donating blood), the VON, or the Malagash United Church.

A service to celebrate Eldon's life will be held on Wednesday June 22, 2022 at 2 p.m. at Malagash United Church, Malagash. Arrangements are under the direction of Coulter's Funeral Home, Tatamagouche.