Wes Neal, owner and longtime ‘face’ of Boulevard Drive-In Theatre in KCK, has died

Wes Neal, who brought the drive-in experience to generations of movie-goers in the Kansas City area, has died at age 96.

“It is with a heavy heart that I have to share this news,” the Boulevard Drive-In Theatre said in a post on Facebook on Thursday afternoon. “The owner of the Boulevard Drive-In Theatre, Samuel Wesley (Wes) Neal, has passed away.”

By early Friday, the post had garnered hundreds of comments by fans expressing their condolences and sharing their memories of the family-friendly, “magical place” that had become a summer mecca.

Neal passed away on Sept. 18, according to his obituary .

Neal’s grandson, Brian Neal, teared up when he said in an interview with The Star Friday that the community’s outpouring has been overwhelming.

“He was a good man, and he did a lot for the community,” said Brian Neal, the current manager of the Boulevard Drive-In. “I’m just pleased that everybody’s recognizing that.”

Many patrons and drive-in staff called him “Grandpa.” His close friends called him “Gunslinger” because of his love for Western movies, Brian Neal said.

Neal said his grandfather lived a long life, and was very proud of what was done at the drive-in. In the weeks before his death, Neal shared that his grandfather said, “Look at what we’ve done. And we’re still going.”

Neal said his grandfather was looking forward to the 75th anniversary of the drive-in next year.

“I was hoping he could make it to that, but he didn’t,” Brian Neal said to The Star.

From drive-in ‘ramp boy’ to owner

Neal grew up in Arkansas and the Bootheel of Missouri, working on his parents’ cotton and soybean farm. In 1948, he moved to Kansas City, according to information from his family.

Neal first got a job for a veterinary pharmaceutical lab that is now Bayer Corp., but because he had so much energy, he knew he needed to do something else to keep busy. In 1954, Neal started working at the drive-in, which opened in 1950, making it the oldest continuously operated movie theater in the Kansas City area.

Neal worked a 6 p.m. to 3 a.m. shift early on for $3 a night as a “ramp boy,” directing traffic in and out of the theater lot. He worked his way up to manager.

In the 1970s, the drive-in’s original investors almost closed its doors over concerns that the Boulevard might not be profitable again. However, according to Boulevard Drive-In Theatre’s Facebook page, Neal convinced the owners to lease it to him and his wife, Maize, to create a family-run theater. His wife would later die in 2015 after 67 years of marriage.

In 1975, Neal launched the weekend flea market called Swap ‘N’ Shop to keep the drive-in afloat. In the mid-1980s, Neal retired from Bayer’s “Bayvet” Division at the age of 59.

Then, in 1993, he purchased the drive-in at 1051 Merriam Lane in Kansas City, Kan., according to his sister, Joy Neal Brown, in obituary information provided to The Star.

“It became his ‘farm,’ and he knew his father and mother would be proud and spoke of that often,” Brown wrote.

Neal checked the speakers every day to ensure they were working right. At the same time, he picked up stray trash, scoffing at those who used a trash picker rather than bending over to pick it up, Brown wrote.

A 2015 story in The Star described how Neal and his grandson and manager, Brian Neal, kept the Boulevard thriving in an era of change for drive-ins across the country.

At the time, the then 87-year-old Neal was seen speeding by on his ATV, weaving past cars trying to park between speakers, before hopping off and working the front gate moments later.

Neal brought many upgrades to the drive-in, including being the first to offer digital sound. And in 2011, the Boulevard became the first American drive-in to convert to 4K video.

In June 2020, while other school districts across the metro hosted graduations online or postponed them until later in the summer during COVID, Kansas City, Kansas, Public Schools held ceremonies at the drive-in .

As the iconic theater prepared for its 74th season this year, Neal watched from the sidelines as his grandson and “outdoor guy” Craig Douglas worked. The longtime “face” of the Boulevard was no longer as involved in the day-to-day operations as he once was, according to a story this spring in The Star.

But he still had his opinions.

Neal pointed to one of hundreds of posts holding the theater’s in-car speakers, saying, “You see that post back there on the end? I wouldn’t have it leaning over like that.”

Brown wrote that despite being connected to the drive-in for 70 years, her brother claimed to have never watched a movie all the way through, except for “42,” a biographical on baseball legend Jackie Robinson, Major League Baseball’s first Black player.

“The movies themselves weren’t the draw for him — the excitement of the movies being sold out with over 700 cars and the overflowing Swap and Shop were his greatest joy because those meant he had been successful and that he had accomplished something great in giving pleasure to others through his efforts and hard work,” Brown wrote.

Movie-goers pay their respects

Upon hearing the news, fans of Neal and the Boulevard posted memories and stories of the drive-in, and expressed condolences to Neal’s family.

“Because of Mr. Neal, the KC Deaf community has had the opportunity for several years now to experience the drive-in with rare open-captioned double-feature nights where we have been excluded from the drive-in experience for lack of accessibility by the entire industry all over the country for generations prior,” wrote Chad Ruddle in a post on Facebook. “I cannot express my gratitude enough to him for taking that chance and allowing me and my community to do so. My deepest condolences to his family for their loss. Thank you, sir.”

Others mentioned going there as children as a family because it was the most affordable entertainment. Many said they still go.

Another person wrote how they would go as teens, and Neal would sometimes be at the gate taking money. One time, he looked in the car and asked, “How many in the car and how many in the trunk?” Neal then winked.

“Our family shared so many beautiful memories there in the truck bed during the summers. Our date night sometimes,” wrote Dara Maley. “Thank you for creating such a unique and fun personal and family experience to the Kansas City area.”

Neal said many people loved his grandfather and that he was a legend.

Neal, who has run the theater for the last 15 years or so, will be 79 when the drive-in turns 100.

“I plan to run this thing for as long as I am alive,” Neal said. “I‘m going to keep his legacy going.”

A visitation for Neal will be held Tuesday from 12:30 to 2 p.m. at the Chapel Hill-Butler Funeral Home, 701 N. 94th Street in Kansas City, Kansas. Funeral services will follow at 2 p.m.