Michael Neil

Mike Neil retired in 2002 as a Washington State Fish and Wildlife Officer after 30 years. He went into the ministry as a Minister of Discipleship in a Lutheran Church in Puyallup. Leaving that church in 2008, he started a chaplain ministry with the State of Washington. Mike and his wife Sue were high school sweethearts and were married in June of 1973. After all these years, they are still best friends. They had three children, losing an infant son, Ryan, in 1981, and in 2006 losing a 27-year...See more

Mike Neil retired in 2002 as a Washington State Fish and Wildlife Officer after 30 years. He went into the ministry as a Minister of Discipleship in a Lutheran Church in Puyallup. Leaving that church in 2008, he started a chaplain ministry with the State of Washington. Mike and his wife Sue were high school sweethearts and were married in June of 1973. After all these years, they are still best friends. They had three children, losing an infant son, Ryan, in 1981, and in 2006 losing a 27-year-old married Daughter, Susanne. People ask how he became a chaplain. Mike says for him; it was losing Susanne and experiencing how that changes you. Their Son James is married with two grown children, and he is the Director of Athletics for the Tacoma School District. Additionally, Mike is a notable northwest Pen and Ink artist and author. Sue retired from teaching and is now leads women's ministries at Harborview Fellowship Church in Gig Harbor.Today Mike is the Executive Director and founder of the Washington State Chaplain Foundation supporting the chaplaincy for the Washington State Patrol and the Department of Fish and Wildlife Police Chaplain Program. In 2020 Mike was elected to Regional Director for the International Conference of Police Chaplains, a six-state region including Alaska, Washington, Idaho, Montana, Wyoming, and Oregon. See less