John H. Neir, 78, of Indianapolis, Indiana, formerly of Marcus, Iowa, went home to be with the Lord on Friday, January 2, 2015 at Community Hospital East in Indianapolis surrounded by his family. Funeral services will take place at 11:00 a.m. on Tuesday, January 6, 2015 at the Meriden Evangelical Free Church. Rev. Larry Ostercamp will officiate. Burial will follow at Marcus Amherst Cemetery. Visitation will begin at 10:00 a.m. on Tuesday, January 6, 2015 at the church.

John Harry Neir was born on June 15, 1936 to George and Alice Neir. Two siblings joined the family, Roger Neir and Roberta Graber. John grew up in the Marcus, Iowa area, attending primary and secondary school there. He went on to graduate with a degree in accounting from the University of Iowa. Later on he received a Master's degree in Health Administration from the University of Minnesota. He was married August 14, 1959 to Dorice Hall and they started married life in Minneapolis, Minnesota where John worked as an accountant at the University of Minnesota. During that time they attended Salem Evangelical Free Church. It was there they learned of a requested need for an accountant and nurse to serve in Hong Kong under the Evangelical Free Board of Missions-the two fields they were trained in. God spoke to their hearts about serving as missionaries and they applied to that board and were accepted. As part of preparation for serving in Hong Kong John studied one year with Trinity Evangelical Divinity School in Deerfield, IL followed by a year of Cantonese language study at the Yale University Institute of Far Eastern Languages in New Haven, Connecticut.

On January 23, 1964 John and Dorice arrived in Hong Kong where, initially, John served as an accountant at Evangel Hospital, a ministry of the Evangelical Free Church there. Eventually he became the Hospital Administrator for Evangel and served in that capacity for 25 years. Under his direction the hospital expanded its services and size. Many patients came to know the Lord and a church was also started there.

John was a member of the Board of Evangel Seminary for most of his time in Hong Kong as well as helping the local church, Evangelical Free Church of China, set up a Missions Department. He was also very active in the church-planting ministry of the local church body.

All along John was aware that his responsibilities at the hospital would eventually be turned over to a local person. The Lord provided that person in June of 1995 and within a month the Lord opened another door for him. A seminary in China under the Religious Affairs Bureau had a president who was a committed Christian. They had the burden of opening a Christian medical clinic for the community as an outreach. Through various contacts John became involved in helping them using his expertise from his work at Evangel Hospital. As a result, other requests came in for similar ministry and, through that, Medicare Resources was established to provide poverty relief and support for rural churches (such as mobile clinics) that were springing up throughout HuBei Province. Medicare Resources is under the umbrella of The Evangelical Church of China with its office in Hong Kong but has its own identity and organization. For the last twelve years of his ministry in Asia, John was the CEO of this organization.

Again, it became time to relinquish his responsibilities to a local person and John and Dorice retired from Hong Kong moving to Indianapolis, Indiana in June of 2007. They joined Franklin Road Baptist Church where John helped the AWANA program and served as a Deacon. He also attended a new church plant in the northern part of the city where a Cantonese-speaking church was being started. John's heart remained in China and he took several month-long trips back as an advisor and mentor to the work he helped establish there before ill-health prevented him from returning. He also remained on the board of Medicare Resources and attended a Skype meeting with them just two weeks before he went to be with the Lord.

Grateful to have shared his life is his Wife, Dorice of Indianapolis, IN; Children: Kevin (Laurie) Neir of Libertyville, IL , Brian (Shelley) Neir of Yelm, WA; and Laura (Jon) Delaney of Cumming, GA;grandchildren, Zachary and Ethan Neir, Hannah and Kiana Neir, Shannon and Austin Delaney; a brother, Roger Neir; a sister, Roberta Graber; and many nieces, nephews, and cousins.

He was preceded in death by his parents.