Cornelius Henry (Neil) Neumann was born December 14, 1927 in Spy Hill, Saskatchewan, about a year after the family emigrated to Canada from Russia.  In 1932, the family moved to Gem, Alberta where Neil spent his school years while also working on the family farm.  Neil confided with his children that it was a very hard life and that having a large family was not always a good thing.  He didn’t talk too much of this time, but his family photos show him fishing with his brothers and friends and raising a prize bull.  On one occasion he was asked by his children, why he always ate his meals so fast.  He responded, “When I grew up, if you didn’t eat fast, you didn’t get enough food.” 

     While still living in Gem, Alberta, Neil was baptized in 1943, on the confession of his faith. In 1945, he moved again with the family to Sardis, British Columbia.  He completed his high school over the next few years by correspondence, while working and starting a family.   He didn’t see his future in the agricultural life and, to be honest, he didn’t show much mechanical aptitude.   He moved to Vancouver in 1947, where he met his soon-to-be wife Herta Joan Sawatsky, and on May 15, 1949, they were married. 

     Neil was very much a self-made man, and work was always an energizing part of his life.  One of his first jobs away from home was in a Vancouver sawmill, where he lost a finger, part of his hand, and sustained some hearing loss.  When times were tough, he sold magazines door-to-door so he could feed his young family.  The family moved several times within greater Vancouver as he built several houses to accumulate some equity – “to get ahead”, he coined it. In the 1950’s he obtained his real estate sales license and this led to a long, successful career in both residential and commercial Real Estate. Eventually he became Vice President of Block Brothers Industries and then president of the Greater Vancouver Real Estate Board.  This position entailed a trip to Ottawa to lobby the federal government for property rights to be enshrined in the Canadian Constitution, and a meeting with then B.C. Premier Mike Harcourt.  Neil semi-retired at age 60 and worked as a Notary Public till full retirement. 

     Neil and Herta were very involved, primarily in two Mennonite Brethren churches, over their adult years—Fraserview and Killarney Park. Neil served in Christian Education, DVBS, on several Church Boards, and as Moderator. Herta loved the social side of Christian service.  Church and family were the central parts of their personal lives and their very active social life.  Herta loved to do flower arrangements for worship services as well as hosting innumerable events at the family home. Card playing (Rook and Canasta) was a staple activity but ‘regular’ playing cards were ‘verboten’.  Perhaps the greatest highlight of these years were the many backyard barbecues with family and friends.   Their faith in God and belief in the Christian community as the center of their lives was clear to all who met them.  Many life-long friendships were built during this time. 

     Neil, especially loved family gatherings.  Every December 27^th the extended Neumann family would gather to celebrate Christmas in the Fraser Valley.  Eventually, the extended family became so large that the MEI gym was needed to host them all.  Family gatherings were highlights of the year for both Neil and Herta.

     Travel played an important part in their family life. Neil and Herta took their family to Disneyland, Palm Springs, and Hawaii, and many times to the southern interior of B.C.  More than a decade of annual Shuswap Lake camping trips was a highlight for all.  Water skiing, fishing, beach camping, and of course, playing cards, filled their time.  Neil also loved to hunt and to fish in the ocean; family trips to the north coast of B.C. were great fun. Hockey was also a passion and the family held season tickets to Canucks’ games for several years.  At home, if Neil wasn’t entertaining or gardening, he had a book in his hands. 

     Neil and Herta also travelled to distant parts of the world, but he said that his trip to Africa to visit Herta’s sister Elma and her husband Harold Hyde, who were missionaries in Nigeria, and the African safari, was his favorite.  Their life was well-recorded in thousands of photographs taken by Neil and organized into albums by Herta, who spent countless hours doing so.  These albums are now a testament to their love of family and friends.

     The family put down long-term roots in the Dunbar/Kerrisdale area of Vancouver in the late 1960’s.  For the most part these were good years, but towards the end, legal battles with the owners of their leased property cast a shadow on Neil’s retirement years.  At about the same time, Herta was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s Disease. This took its toll on Neil, not only from exhaustion from being her main caregiver, but from losing his life companion.  Herta was with him in body, but not in spirit, and grieving this loss was very difficult.

     Neil faithfully cared for Herta for many years, but this disease eventually took away his joy in life. On August 31, 2010, after a short illness, Neil passed away. Herta spent her last years in a personal care home, and passed away on April 30, 2015. Their direct descendants number 16 (2023).