Services set for Ohio soldier, 19 in Lima

9/26/2007

LIMA, Ohio - Funeral services for Army Pfc. Christian Monroe Neff, 19, of Allen County's Shawnee Township, who died Sept. 19 in Baghdad of wounds from an improvised explosive device, will be at 10:30 a.m. Friday in Shawnee United Methodist Church, Shawnee Township.

Visitation will be from 2 to 8 p.m. today and tomorrow in the Chamberlain-Huckeriede Funeral Home, Lima.

Burial, with military honors, will be in Shawnee Cemetery in the township.

Maj. Gen. Robert Williams, who is commanding general of Fort Knox in Kentucky, where Private Neff took basic training in June, 2006, is to speak at the funeral.

Private Neff, who was a tank driver, joined the Army in April, 2006, as a senior at Apollo Career Center and Shawnee High School.

Surviving are his parents, William and Nancy Neff; sister, Shannon Neff, and grandparents, Vernon and Margery Neff.

The family suggests tributes to the United Service Organizations, Shawnee United Methodist Church, or equestrian therapy in the Cridersville, Ohio, area.