Robert Neu was born to Otto Paul Neu and Maria Schlesinger April 1, 1940 in Paris, France. As a son of Jewish parents, he had the misfortune of spending his first years as a hidden child during France’s German Nazi occupation. The greater fortune, of course, was that both he and his parents survived.
He emigrated from Paris to the United States at the age of 19 and settled in New York City. His life then unfolded like a fabled American Dream. He earned a college degree, fell in love and married, worked his way up from a part-time student job in the mail room to executive level management at Air France, became a U.S. citizen, served his church community and provided for and helped rear five sons and two daughters.
He is most remembered for his hard work, devotion and dedication to his family, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and his job at Air France. He was most proud of his children and their accomplishments – especially that all five sons served missions for the church and that all seven children married in church temples, earned college degrees, are rearing children of their own and are serving in their local church communities.
He was an instigator of family gatherings, a lover of train sets, a speaker of five languages, an enforcer of family pictures, a world traveler, a senior missionary, a joke teller, a music lover, a singer at heart (to the chagrin of some people’s ears) and an ardent Jewish genealogist. While humble about most personal accomplishments, he took delight in the special honor of having flown on the Concorde when it was first added to the Air France fleet.
He dutifully stayed present with us through hospice to visit with all of his surviving children before he peacefully parted from us March 16.
His presence, intellect and wit are missed by many, especially his surviving direct family members: His wife and companion for 55 years Clara; son Robert, his wife Noramah and their children (Robert and wife Janelle, Johnathan, Rebekah, Spencer and David); son Laurent, his wife Kerrie and their children’s families (Christopher, wife Melodee and the first great-grandchild Harmonee, and Emilie Chapman and husband Thomas); son Gerard, his wife Rachel and their children (Annabelle, Colette, Sebastian, Theodore and Nathaniel); son Jonathan’s widow Anne and their children (Jacob, Jackson, Elizabeth, Abigail and Kathleen); daughter Emilie Harker, her husband Dustin and their children (Dillon, Ammon, Jarom, Clara, Matthieu, Ayden, Camille, Ella, Aurora, Charlotte, Elias, Samuel and Samantha); son Jeffrey, his wife Erika and their children (Cohen and Lydia); and daughter Sharon Neu Young, her husband Benjamin and their children (Atticus and Crosby).
His career and family distracted him from many personal endeavors. We hope he will find pleasure that his uncompleted master’s thesis, a study of the novels of Henri Troyat, is being published at long last. We have faith he is being warmly embraced in the next life by his parents, affectionately remembered as Oma and Opa, his son Jonathan, and the countless extended family members killed in the Holocaust whom he has mourned losing the opportunity to know in this life. Enjoy the family gatherings, Dad. We hope the next life has Perrier, brie cheese and a lot of sweets for you to enjoy (especially now that you’re no longer diabetic). Till we meet again. We love you.
Visitation was held March 23 at Church of Latter Day Saints, Eatontown, with burial following after at Fair View Cemetery in Middletown. All arrangements are under the care of the John E. Day Funeral Home, Red Bank.
Please visit Robert’s memorial website at johnedayfuneralhome.com.
