Masanobu George Neeno

Masanobu George Neeno was born in Southern California in 1922. As a kid he could remember when the cowboys would ride into town on horseback. In 1942 he was imprisoned with the rest of the Japanese Americans and was sent to Poston, in the Arizona desert. After the war he moved to the Midwest, where he got a Bachelor of Arts from Illinois Wesleyan University, where he and another student were the only people who would hang out with the two African Americans on campus.

He met Dorothy Jean Smith, who would become Mrs. Neeno, at the McDonnell Douglas aircraft plant in St. Louis, Missouri during the Korean War, where she was Rosie the Riveter, and he was the rivet inspector.

They got married and moved to Chicago, Illinois, where he resided the rest of his life. He raised four sons, Herbert. Timothy, Tony, and Dale, and taught them to believe in right and wrong, and that America was there for all people. He was an Elder at Lincoln Park Presbyterian Church for many years, where he spoke up against the Vietnam War and for gay rights, even when it wasn't popular to do so.

He looked after his two parents, Shosaku and Tsuneko, until the day they died. And he looked after his wife Dorothy, and his son Tony, until the day they died.

He cried out against injustice whenever he saw it and taught his sons to care about nature and the wild things of this earth. And he kept his quirky sense of humor throughout everything. He touched many lives, at his job as an advertising executive, at church, and the people around him. He loved and was loved and will be deeply missed.

A Memorial Visitation will be held at Drake & Son Funeral Home, 5303 North Western Ave, Chicago, IL 60625, US, on August 17, 2026, from 12:00 pm to 4:00 pm. Celebration of Life service at the same location from 1:00 to 2:00 PM.