ARCHIBALD K. McNEILL
Secretary
Archibald K. McNeill ca. 1920
Archibald K. McNeill leads the Utah Pipe Band in a parade.
In 1915, McNeill and his parents emigrated to the United States and settled in the Salt Lake Valley near relatives. He was employed by the Union Pacific Railroad from 1916 to 1959 working as a stenographer, secretary, general car distributor, and assistant to the superintendent before being appointed as transportation superintendent of the South Central District in 1943. In this role, his office became a vital hub for passenger and freight rail operations across the Western United States, overseeing roughly one-third of the company's total mileage. The demands of the Second World War made this work especially challenging, as McNeill and his team worked to coordinate the transport of military personnel and supplies.
Archibald "Archie" Kennedy Clifford McNeill was born April 12, 1893, in London, England. He died April 5, 1960, in Salt Lake City, Utah, USA. His father was Archibald McNeill (born 1852), and his mother was Mary McNeill (née Kennedy, 1848–1922).
The only child of Glaswegian parents, McNeill lived in Liverpool, England, for the first few years of his life before the family returned to Glasgow, Scotland, where they lived in the Govan and Partick districts.
As a teenager, McNeill worked as an office boy for Caledonian Railway and attended night school studying shorthand and typewriting. After earning his diploma, he was promoted to work in the departmental manager's office for the railroad. He recalled pleasant summer vacations on the Isle of Lismore visiting with cousins, herding cows, and fishing on Loch Linnie.
McNeill was actively engaged in the local Scottish community, holding the positions of conductor and secretary in the Salt Lake Scottish Club. He also served as the president of the Scottish Missionary Society. After the First World War, these two organizations joined together to raise money for a special cause in Scotland. Throughout the war, Edinburgh Castle had been used by the British as a war prison and barracks. As the castle was no longer needed for those purposes after the war, the British Government announced in 1920, that part the castle was to be converted into the Scottish National War Memorial. The Salt Lake Scottish Club and Scottish Missionary Society immediately organized a committee to begin raising funds throughout
the Mountain West to help construct the memorial. McNeill served as secretary on the committee, helping to make the memorial a reality all the way from Utah.
In 1925, McNeill married Edel Caroline Hansen (1897–1985) in Salt Lake City. Together, they had four children: David Kennedy (1926–2017), Mary Afton (1928–2021), Carolyn (1931–1958), and Florence Kennedy (1934–2024). McNeill took particular pride in his home life, especially the family’s backyard, where he created a lively space for his children with a slide, monkey bars, a garden, and chickens.
McNeill was a cofounder of the Utah Pipe Band in 1937 and served as its first secretary. He acted in this capacity for many years, energetically coordinating events and managing other aspects of the organization.
After retiring from Union Pacific in April 1959, McNeill looked forward to a quieter life where he could focus more on gardening (one of his favorite pastimes) and spending more time with his wife, children, and grandchildren.
Following complications with his liver health, McNeill died on April 5, 1960, at the age of 66.