0 Female Bodybuilder Renee O'Neill Passes Away

From Steve Wennerstrom:

http://forums.rxmuscle.com/showthread.php?t=33328

It is with great sorrow and regret that I report the passing of former national-class heavyweight competitor Renee O'Neill.

Diagnosed with cancerous melanoma on January 12th, O'Neill died on March 31st from complications stemming from the cancer. A memorial service was held on April 7th at the Berryhill Funeral Home Chapel in her Athens, Alabama home. She was 47. Born in Massachusetts and raised in Southern California where she graduated from Pacifica High School in Garden Grove in 1980, O'Neill transferred from Orange Coast College to the University of Alabama in Huntsville where she earned her Bachelor of Science degree in 1985 and a Master of Science in computer science in 1992. An accomplished bodybuilder, O'Neill began competing in 1991 winning the NPC Tennessee Valley heavyweight class. In 1992 she placed third at the NPC Alabama as a MW. After winning the overall NPC Alabama in 1993 O'Neill moved to bigger regional and national-level events. In 1995 she won the HW & overall NPC Southern States. She was also the HW & Overall winner at the 1997 NPC Ironmaiden in California. O'Neill's highest national placing came in 1999 when she placed second in the HW class at the NPC Nationals. Over her competitive career she entered the Nationals six times, and the IFBB North American, NPC USA, NPC Junior USA, and NPC Junior Nationals once each. Her competitive career lasted 10 ten years from 1991 to 2000. O'Neill was also a noteworthy powerlifter who totaled 1,150 pounds in the 165-pound class lifting 450 in the squat, 250 in the bench, and 450 in the deadlift. She was also a skilled ice hockey player, and also had a love of horseback riding. Outside of bodybuilding, O'Neill carried on an impressive career working for The Boeing Company working as an associate technical fellow in 2003 and as an executive in 2008. Her last position was as director, Sensors Systems Integrated Product Team for the Ground Based Midcourse Defense Missile program. On one of the biographical sheets she filled out at one of her many competitions - under occupation - she simply wrote "software engineer working on the space station project". In addition, O'Neill received notable commendations for her work including the 1996 NASA Space Flight Awareness award and the 2007 Air, Space, and Missile Defense Association's Space and Missile Defense Technical Achievement award. We extend our sincerest condolences to her husband Don Gold, her daughter Caroline, and her entire family. Rest assured she will always be remembered warmly in the sport of women's bodybuilding.