Henry Neumann

Henry O. Neumann who lived at the Fountains at Bronson Place, passed away on February 27, 2015 at Rose Arbor hospice with his family by his side after suffering several strokes. He was born in Anchorville, Michigan, the sixth of seven children, to Heinrich Neumann and Helena Scheurig, who had immigrated from Germany and western Poland between 1912 and 1918. His family was quite poor and Henry had to struggle to convince his parents to allow him to finish high school. He highly valued learning as a way to improve his life, which is one reason he joined the US Army Air Force as soon as he finished high school. He was stationed several places stateside, and successfully completed officer's training and bombardier school, and was in radar navigation training when the World War 2 ended. After tending to his father's sudden unexpected death in Michigan, he re-enlisted as a Master Sergeant and spent the next couple of years in Mount Clemens, Michigan and Fairbanks, Alaska. During this time Henry met Florence Fiorini, the love of his life, and married her on August 16, 1947. While in Alaska, he explored the Catholic religion and, after much consideration, he became an adult convert and actively practiced his faith and financially supported the church throughout his life. He tried to live his life along his often-repeated maxim that, "I just do the best I can, and leave the rest to God." According to his wishes, Henry received the Catholic sacrament of Last Rites during his last week as he prepared to join his Heavenly Father. He was a generous man with his time and his money, and also a member of the St. Vincent DePaul Society and the Knights of Columbus. His work life was primarily in the elevator tradehe had become a master mechanic and earned the respect and admiration of elevator industry leaders across the state and region as he worked at Haughton, McNally, and Westinghouse Elevator companies as well as the State of Michigan as Elevator Inspector over the years. He also found time to explore a serious hobby running a 40-acre grape vineyard and farm in Mattawan, during which time he and Florence also enjoyed the close friendships of many wonderful people in the Mattawan region, which he described as "probably the best time of my life". Henry also had a remarkable ear for music, having mostly self-taught and learned harmonica, guitar, and fiddle as a youth, and mandolin, accordion, and other instruments over the years. After Florence passed away in November 2007 he lived with his children for two years (in Kalamazoo, MI and Bismarck, ND) before moving into The Fountains at Bronson Place, where he joined the band and choral group. His talent was appreciated by all and he soon became affectionately known as "Harmonica Hank". He also endeared himself to very many of the staff and residents at The Fountains for being "a very sweet man" who "always talked about and dearly loved his family". Indeed the growing family was the pride and joy of both Henry and Florence, and became an overarching focus of his life especially as he grew older. He also thought about and appreciated his beloved late wife every day, feeling that "True love never dies" Henry was preceded in death by his parents and all six of his siblings (Paul, Marie, Virginia, Elsie, Jeanette, and Lilian). He is survived by three children: Nicholas (Jean) Neumann of Pittsboro, NC; Donna (Larry) Remington of Kalamazoo, MI; and Michael Neumann of Kalamazoo, MI. He has nine grandchildren: Tami (Steve) Bryer of Mattawan, MI; Sandi (Shawn) Betz of Climax, MI; Dave (Cari) Remington of Kalamazoo, MI; Tatiana (Sean) Tims of Jupiter, FL; Esteban Neumann of Providence, RI; Matt (Sophia) Neumann of Scottsdale, AZ; Laura (Sachin) Patel of Chapel Hill, NC; Michelle Neumann of Littleton, CO; and Lukas Neumann of Bismarck, ND. He also has eleven great-grandchildren: Michaela (20), Alexis (15), Nicholas (13), and Matthew (11) Bryer; Ashley (16) and Connor (11) Betz; Ryan (14), Sydney (11), and Emily (11) Remington; and Sonia (3) and Diljaan (1) Patel. Henry and his family very much enjoyed his life and appreciated the services and staff at The Fountains over the years. His last few weeks involved stays at Borgess Hospital where he was also treated with expertise and kindness and respect by all. He was very fortunate to be able to spend his last day at Rose Arbor hospice where the doctors, nurses, and entire staff helped him and all of his family provide expert and appropriate loving care for him in a comfortable home-like settingfor which we are all very grateful. A memorial service to celebrate his life is planned for March 21, 2015 at the Langeland Family Funeral Homes, Westside Chapel, 3926 South 9th Street in Kalamazoo, MI (Oshtemo). Visitation with the family will start at 10:00am followed by the memorial service led by Pastor Rick Gorham; a catered lunch will follow. In lieu of flowers, the family prefers donations to the Hospice of Southwest Michigan or to the charity of your choice.