George Otto Neumann

Madison – George Otto Neumann passed away August 12, 2011 at Veterans Hospital in Madison. George was born in Chicago on Oct. 19, 1924. A recipient of the Bronze Star, he saw combat duty as a U.S. Army Infantryman in the European Theater during World War II. George attended Northwestern University on the G.I. Bill and graduated with honors with a BA in Political Science. He followed this with an MA in the same field. On Feb. 14, 1952, he married the love of his life, Mary Griffenhagen in Evanston, IL. Together they had four children to whom they gave the gifts of progressive ideals, a love of reading and a fondness for circus elephants. George had several occupations, but the one he liked best was as an independent book seller. With the closing of their last book shop, he and Mary formed Indy Indexers, freelance indexing for university presses and small publishers. In 2001, they retired and moved to Madison, WI to be near their son Chris and his wife, Pam. He is survived by his wife Mary, his children Paul (June) Neumann, Chris (Pam) Neumann, Kate (Jim Provost) Neumann, Ben (Debbie) Neumann, his 10 grandchildren Kristoffer Neumann, Eric (Elise) Neumann, Tristan Neumann, Nick Neumann, Cal Provost-Neumann, Zoe Provost-Neumann, Casey Neumann, Sara Neumann, Paige Neumann and Renee Neumann, one great-grandson, Isaiah Neumann, his brother Richard (Dolores) Neumann and sister Louise (Dick) Shannon. A celebration of George’s life will be held on Saturday, Aug. 20, 2-4 p.m., in the Dryden Terrace community room, 1902 Londonderry Dr., Madison, WI. In lieu of flowers, memorials may be sent to the Madison Public Library Foundation, or the charity of your choice. The family would like to thank the staff of the VA CCU and UW Hospital Cardiology for their compassionate care.