Mary Virginia Griffenhagen - Neumann

Mary Virginia Griffenhagen Neumann, 87, of Madison, WI, formerly of Chicago, IL and southern Indiana, died peacefully, surrounded by her family, Tuesday, January 19, 2016. Mary was born on April 28, 1928 and grew up in Evanston, IL. She attended Smith College and transferred to Illinois College, where she received a BA in philosophy. On Feb. 14, 1953, she married the love of her life, George Neumann of Chicago, IL. Together they had four children to whom they gave the gifts of progressive ideals, a love of reading and an appreciation of the absurd. Mary was a professional indexer who began her career at Encyclopaedia Britannica and later had her own business. In 1981, she and George left Chicago and moved to southern Indiana. Mary loved the beauty of the wooded hills and quiet streams of their new state. In 2001, they moved to Madison, to be near their son, Chris and his wife, Pam. Mary is survived by her 4 children, Paul (June) Neumann, Chris (Pam) Neumann, Kate (Jim Provost) Neumann and Ben (Debbie) Neumann; her 10 grandchildren, Kristoffer, Eric (Elise), Tristan, Nick (Brianna), Cal, Zoe, Casey, Sara, Paige and Renee; her 4 great-grandchildren, Isaiah, Evangeline, HannahGrace and Josiah; and her many nieces and nephews. She was preceded in death by her husband, George, and her brothers, Ray (Peggy) Griffenhagen and John (Maurine) Griffenhagen. Mary had a wonderful sense of humor, loved reading, nature, public radio, Jeopardy, and of course, her bears! She will be greatly missed by her friends and family. A celebration of her life is being planned for later this year in Brown County, Indiana. In lieu of flowers, memorials may be sent to the North/Eastside Senior Coalition (Madison) or the Madison Public Library Foundation. The family would like to thank the staff of the Oakwood Village Health and Rehab Center and UW Hospital and Clinics for their compassionate care.