Dr. Henry Whitehead Neale

Dr. Henry Whitehead Neale of Montreat, North Carolina, died peacefully at home on the morning of Saturday, February 14, 2026. Born on July 18, 1940, in Richmond, Virginia, he was the son of the late Dr. Richard C. Neale, Sr., and Eva Whitehead Neale.

Henry and his wife Margaret first met 65 years ago while serving as camp counselors in Montreat. Margaret was drawn to Henry as he rode his surfboard across Lake Susan keeping swimmers safe, and he knew immediately he had found his lifelong partner. They married a few years later and together raised their four children. A devoted husband and loving father, Henry was also a dear friend to many in the Montreat community, where caring for his patients over the last twenty years gave him deep purpose after retirement.

Professionally, Dr. Neale was determined, resourceful, and exceptionally hardworking. After graduating from the McCallie School in Chattanooga and attending Davidson College, he earned his medical degree from the Medical College of Virginia. He completed his general surgery residency at the University of Cincinnati and subspecialty training in plastic surgery at Duke University. Encouraged by Dr. William Altemeier, he returned to Cincinnati and founded the Division of Plastic Surgery in 1974. He served as Chief and Residency Program Director until his retirement in 2003, training 36 residents who went on to practice across the country. An authority on burn reconstruction of the head, neck, and breast, he held numerous leadership roles, including Chairman of the American Board of Plastic Surgery, Director of the American Board of Surgery, Editor of the Journal of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, President of the Association of Chairmen in Plastic Surgery, and President of the Mont Reid Surgical Society. He was a gifted teacher and mentor who set and lived by the highest standards of clinical excellence and integrity.

In keeping with the Neale family’s commitment to education and community, Henry and Margaret established the Henry W. and Margaret C. Neale Endowed Chair in Plastic Surgery at the University of Cincinnati College of Medicine upon his retirement.

He is survived by his children, Leigh Neale, Jennifer Neale, Henry Neale, Jr. and wife Melia, and William Neale and wife Alaina; his siblings, Richard Neale, Jr., Wirt Neale and wife Ginger, Beverly Johnson and husband Merwyn, Donna Kelly, and Vickie Peters and husband Zayne; and his grandchildren, Jordan, William and Logan Kuhn, Elena and Kezha Neale-Sacks, Makena and Maggie Neale, and Maximus and Madeline Neale.