Neil Gazel, 78, a gifted writer who thrived as a sports reporter for the Chicago Daily News and later held executive positions at several public relations firms, died Thursday, June 22, in his Arlington Heights home. Born in Milwaukee, Mr. Gazel’s youth was marked by a love for sports and writing that would resonate throughout his life. After graduating from the University of Wisconsin at Madison with a degree in journalism and enlisting in the Army for three years during World War II, Mr. Gazel took a sportswriting job with the Chicago Daily News in 1946. “It was a dream job for him,” said his daughter Marcia Murton. “He liked to watch, he liked to play, and writing was what he loved to do.” For 10 years, Mr. Gazel covered the Cubs, White Sox, Blackhawks and three seasons of college sports. Colleagues remembered him as a skilled writer and tenacious reporter with a cool demeanor. “Nobody ever got the scoop on him,” said Owen “Bud” Nangle, a Daily News colleague and friend for 50 years. “He knew his teams, and other reporters rarely beat him to a story.” Mr. Gazel left the newspaper in 1956 to spend more time with his now-late wife, Betty, and two daughters. His first job in the corporate world was a vice president position with Selz, Seabolt and Associates, a Chicago public relations firm. “Public relations let him continue writing, and he excelled,” said another daughter, Christine Ballard. In 1967, Mr. Gazel’s tenure with the firm so impressed executives at Beatrice Foods Co. that they asked him to join their company as assistant vice president and public relations director, family members said. Mr. Gazel later became vice president for public relations at Biggs Gilmore and Associates in Kalamazoo, Mich., before becoming a public relations consultant and freelance writer. Services were held. Burial will be private.
