Manfred Neumann, age 98, of Macomb Township, Michigan passed away on Monday, January 5th, 2026. He was born May 21, 1927 in Groß Sausgarten East Prussia (near present day Kaliningrad Russia) to the late Rudolf & Emma Neumann.
Manfred was born and raised on a farm in East Prussia, and at the end of World War II (May 1945) he escaped the advancing Russian army and moved to where his family had relocated near Hamburg Germany. He met the love of his life, Ilse Chitralla, at a church picnic in 1949 and they were eventually married on May 9th 1953 in Hamburg. They immigrated to Detroit in October of 1956 along with their two young children, Martin and Angela. Despite being unable to speak much English, Manfred was able to land a job in his learned trade as a dental technician. In the early 1960’s they started their family business, and their son Thomas was born. Ilse served as the office manager and bookkeeper of Neumann Dental Lab, while he managed the technical side of repairing and making dentures.
In 1997 Manfred retired, and they became snowbirds traveling to their condominium in Boca Raton Florida. In 2022 Ilse fell and broke her hip and needed greater assistance and they moved into Westwood Inn Assisted Living. Ilse, his loving wife, passed away in November 2023. Manfred’s increasing Dementia caused him to forget that he needed assistance to move around. Consequently, he had numerous falls and visits to the ER and fractured both hips. His last fall and operations rendered him bedridden.
Manfred was caring and generous man who helped refugees and those in need with little fanfare. He was active in his church serving as a Deacon, church moderator, and mixed choir. Manfred enjoyed the outdoors, working in the yard and spending time at their cottage near Higgins Lake, and later traveling with his travel trailer. He loved his family and his Grand Children and cherished the times when they could gather together to celebrate. At these family gatherings it was standard procedure to open the festivities with his favorite chorus “God is so Good” which was the catchphrase our father lived by.
He is survived by his three Children Martin (Jan) Neumann, Angela (Clare) Trost, Thomas (Monica) Neumann; Grandchildren Andrea (Michael) McGuire, Kevin Trost, Nicholas (Adrienne) Neumann, Kelly (Andrew) Thompson, Erika (Charles) Ongena, Lisa (William Smith) Neumann-Smith; Great Grandchildren Claire McGuire, Graham McGuire, Henry Ongena, James Neumann, Lucy Ongena, Benjamin Neumann, Maitland Smith.
A visitation for Manfred will be held on Saturday, January 10, 2026 from 10:00 A.M until the time of his Funeral Service at 11:00AM at Hope Community Baptist, 42259 Hayes Rd, Sterling Heights, MI 48313. Burial will be at Resurrection Cemetery, Clinton Township, MI.
In lieu of flowers please make contributions to Moody Bible Institute or use this link: https://give.moodybible.org/education
