Neal Buer, 73, died on Aug. 22, 2022 while holding the hand of his wife, Lynn Hemberger in Loyola Hospital. Born on Feb. 1, 1949, in Forest Park to Bob and Ann (Hoeksema) Buer, he often worked with his father at the meat counter of the local grocery store and had close relationships with all of his six siblings: Glen, Beth, and Carol Buer, Barbara Wittersheim, Johanne Buchop and Nancy Slade.
He served in the Vietnam War, although he was only .5 credits away from being excluded from the draft. He returned home unannounced, surprising the hell out of his mother. He graduated from UIC, two years later than planned, and later earned an MBA from DePaul.
On one weekend in August 1978, he married Lynn and they bought their home on the 800 block of South Kenilworth, where they both felt infinite gratitude for the support of their caring neighbors.
Every time his wife had exceptional work events, he bought a dog (Lizzie 1985 and Harley 1996). He chose black dogs so their fur could not be seen on his work suits.
Neal had an exciting career in banking, but left work early on practice days to coach his children’s AYSO soccer teams. He continued volunteering with AYSO after his children were no longer in the program.
He also had many hobbies, some of which he shared with his family. With Lynn, he enjoyed camping, windsurfing, making ceramics, traveling in Europe and throwing legendary Halloween parties. He was a passionate golfer, which inspired his son, Peter, to become an even better golfer. He attended yoga classes, enjoyed oil painting, and took private cello lessons with his daughter, Amy.
In his later years, he became inseparable from his iPad, using it to play hearts online and practice his guitar after taking classes at Triton. During his last months, as his health succumbed to Acute Myeloid Leukemia, he became interested in baseball. He voiced one observation, “All the players have big butts.”
He is a force who will be missed. His memory is a blessing.
