Emma Neuman

Emma Neuman, 88, beloved wife, mother, grandmother, great-grandmother, sister, and aunt, completed her journey to the Lord’s Kingdom on August 5, 2026, in Kalispell, MT. Her journey took her from wartime Germany to the mountains of Montana, where she and Jim built a life together and raised their family.

Emma was born on October 4, 1937, in Mannheim, Germany, where she grew up during the final years of World War II. Her earliest memories were sheltering in the basement during air raids, listening to the roar of planes overhead, and clinging to her sisters. Their family endured fear, scarcity, and instability. She and her siblings learned early how to survive and how to protect the people they loved.

She was one of eleven children in the large Dehoust family. Her siblings included Gustaf, Anna, Giesela, Gertrude, Margaret, Paula, Liena, Frieda, Emma, Magda, and Peter. Her mother, Liena, was the heart of the family. A woman who loved her children fiercely and held the household together through poverty and wartime hardship.

Emma’s life changed forever at a friend’s dance party near Mannheim, where she met a young American soldier, James “Jim” Hubert Neuman, a pharmacist stationed in Schwaebisch Hall. Their connection was immediate. In early photographs of them, Jim and Emma portray unmistakable devotion and a quiet love that never faded. Their bond was gentle and heartfelt, grounded in deep care and the small, meaningful acts of everyday affection. They were truly husband and wife.

On October 4, 1958, Emma’s 21st birthday, they married in Germany. After Jim completed his military service in Germany, the couple settled in Missoula, MT, where they raised their three children. Jim and Emma were married for 44 years before Jim’s death in 2002.

Emma, like many women of her generation, was a full‑time stay‑at‑home mother. She ran the household, raised the children, kept the home in order, and made sure her family had what they needed. She was known for her baking, and her family grew up with bellies full of her cookies and pies. Emma and Jim's lake property became the heart of family summers. Weekends were spent swimming, cooking, working, and resting in the quiet beauty of Montana. Those days were some of Emma’s happiest. While she did not pursue a career outside the home, she supported Jim in his entrepreneurial spirit, community involvement, and his career that eventually took them to Arizona and Washington before coming home to Montana.

She is preceded in death by her husband Jim in 2002, with whom she shared 44 years of a loving marriage; her parents, Gustaf and Liena Dehoust; and nine of her siblings.

She is survived by her son John, wife Missy, their children Brendan (TaNeel), Joshua, Megan, and Morgan of Lolo; daughter Deborah O'Brien, husband Kevin, their children Rosie and Mickie of Florence; and daughter Sandra, and husband Erhan of Bahrain. Emma is also survived by three great-grandchildren (Brendan & TaNeel), her sister Magda, who remains the last living member of the Dehoust family.

We will remember her with loving affection, missing all her cooking and baking, but most of all the love she gave to her family.

A funeral Mass will be at 10:30 a.m. Saturday, August 22, at St. Francis Xavier Church in Missoula

The family requests that in lieu of flowers, please send memorials to St. Francis Xavier Church, 420 W Pine St Missoula, MT 59802 

Buffalo Hill Funeral Home caring for the family.