John P. McNeese
September 7, 1943 - February 2, 2026
John Porter McNeese was born in Norfolk Virginia on September 7, 1943, to James and Ruby McNeese. He is the oldest of six children including one sister, Becky, and four brothers, Mike, Martin, Bill, and Hank. He had ten nieces and nephews and their families. John grew up in Ponca City Oklahoma, and attended Ponca City schools, graduating from the Ponca City High School in 1961. He attended the college of Wooster, in Wooster, Ohio, graduating in 1965, with a BA degree in Economics. He was a certified public accountant, having a practice in Ponca City before moving to Oklahoma City in 1980.
McNeese lived with his partner and long-time companion, John Richardson, for over forty years, and they were married in Taos, New Mexico, in 2014. They lived in both Oklahoma City, and Ponca City. Richardson passed away in Ponca City in January 2020.
He was active in the arts in Oklahoma, founding the Oklahoma Visual Arts Coalition in 1988, and was OVAC’S first Executive Director. The coalition makes fellowship awards and funded other art projects undertaken by artists living and working in Oklahoma. Since 1989, and the present, OVAC has distributed well over $2.9 million to Oklahoma artists. In 1996, McNeese received the Governor’s Art Award of Special Recognition for his work with OVAC.
Moving back to Ponca City in 2002, McNeese remained active in the arts, supporting the Ponca Art Association (City Arts). He helped set up its Public Art Fund which helped fund several art projects and the recent murals in Ponca City. City Arts named it new gallery space in City Central after him, in honor of his contributions to the arts in Oklahoma and Ponca City.
In the early 1980's, with the beginning of the AIDS crisis, McNeese helped set up a buddy program for persons with AIDS, matching and training volunteers to lend support services for them. He also served on the national Board of MoreLight Presbyterians, a group seeking the full inclusion of LGBTQ persons in the Presbyterian Church USA, attending meetings and general assemblies over the years. Full inclusion was granted in 2014. McNeese was humble; usually donating anonymously and never wanting to take credit for his ideas and contributions.
There will be no memorial services, and interment will be at the Resthaven Cemetery in Ponca City under the direction of the Trout Funeral Home, 505 W. Grand Ave, Ponca City, OK, 74601. Contributions, in John’s memory, may be made to the City Art Center, 400 E Central Ave Link 2, Ponca City, OK 74601.
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