{"id":119920,"date":"2026-01-25T14:58:53","date_gmt":"2026-01-25T14:58:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/chasdavis.com\/wordpress\/?p=119920"},"modified":"2026-02-07T15:00:08","modified_gmt":"2026-02-07T15:00:08","slug":"m-herbert-herb-oneal","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/chasdavis.com\/wordpress\/2026\/01\/25\/m-herbert-herb-oneal\/","title":{"rendered":"M. Herbert “Herb” Oneal"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

M. Herbert \u201cHerb\u201d Oneal<\/strong>
Floral City, Fla.\u202f\u2014\u202fJanuary\u202f25,\u202f2026, age\u202f94  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Herb Oneal died peacefully under hospice care at Fairway Oaks Center in Tampa. He was born in Tampa on July\u202f11,\u202f1931, the second of five children of the late Mastin Hampton and Pauline (Lee) Oneal. He graduated from Hillsborough High School and began his working life helping his father\u2019s grocery\u2011hardware store in Belmont Heights.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At 21, on his birthday, Herb joined Tampa Electric Company. Starting as a laborer with a shovel, then becoming a lineman that required him to climb the electric poles with gloves and spikes strapped to his legs and shoes. This was before the bucket truck was invented. Due to his experience and knowledge, he rose to high\u2011line patrolman, driving a 4\u2011wheel\u2011drive Jeep along the power lines and preparing repair reports. There were times when he would have to ride in a helicopter to inspect the high-lines in remote locations or over the water. He retired after 35 years of dedicated service.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In 1951, while both were 20, Herb eloped with Alice\u202fMcCullough at the Georgia state line; they returned to Florida for a one\u2011night honeymoon in St.\u202fAugustine. Their son, Floyd D. Oneal, was born a year later.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Herb and Alice shared a love of bowling, camping, and fishing. After retiring, they toured the United States in their motorhome and settled in Floral City in 1989. There they built a canal\u2011front home near the Withlacoochee River, where Herb became known as the \u201cOld Oaks Ranger\u201d for his tireless handyman work and daily neighborhood checks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A man of the old\u2011school ethic\u2014\u201cif it broke, you fixed it\u201d\u2014Herb was respected for his common sense, grit, and ingenuity. He remained active in community groups such as Too Far, Old Oaks Association, and Share Club.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He lived at home until August\u202f2025, when a fall and subsequent health needs led him to move to a Tampa nursing facility, where he spent his final months.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Survived by<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

* Alice Oneal (94) \u2013 wife  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

* Floyd Oneal (Naomi) \u2013 son, Tampa  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

* Donald Oneal and Claude Oneal \u2013 brothers, Tampa  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

* Grandsons Aaron Oneal (Melissa) and Chris Oneal (Stacey)  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

* Great\u2011grandchildren Kira, Noah, Aerielle, and Logan  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Preceded in death by<\/strong> his parents, Mastin and Pauline Oneal, and sisters Betty (Batten) and Sylvia (Blanco).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Arrangements are entrusted to Chas. E. Davis Funeral Home<\/strong>, Inverness, with cremation.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cYour strength will forever uplift us.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

M. Herbert \u201cHerb\u201d OnealFloral City, Fla.\u202f\u2014\u202fJanuary\u202f25,\u202f2026, age\u202f94   Herb Oneal died peacefully under hospice care at Fairway Oaks Center in Tampa. He was born in Tampa on July\u202f11,\u202f1931, the second of five children of the late Mastin Hampton and Pauline (Lee) Oneal. He graduated from Hillsborough High School and began his working life helping his father\u2019s […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":990003,"featured_media":119921,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-119920","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-obituaries"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/chasdavis.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/119920","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/chasdavis.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/chasdavis.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chasdavis.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/990003"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chasdavis.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=119920"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/chasdavis.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/119920\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":119922,"href":"https:\/\/chasdavis.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/119920\/revisions\/119922"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chasdavis.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/119921"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/chasdavis.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=119920"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chasdavis.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=119920"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chasdavis.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=119920"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}