George Anthony Wedemeyer IV

George Anthony Wedemeyer IV was born in New Orleans at Hotel Dieu on July 29, 1941, and baptized at St. Anthony Roman Catholic Church. His father, also named George Wedemeyer, was a musician during the Big Band era. His mother, Dorothy Rita McAvin, was of Irish and Sicilian descent. His parents' marriage only lasted a few years after his birth, so young George was largely raised by his grandparents, George and Hazel Hardy Wedemeyer, and Isabell Saitta McAvin

He attended the Ryder School until his Mam Maw Isabell disapproved of the food being served to the children there, and transferred him to a Catholic school. George grew up fishing and hunting with his father and grandfather, and occasionally with his extended Hardy and Lafaye family. Those were the happiest times of his life. He was sent to a series of boarding schools by his mother and stepfather, and they moved to a number of places. By the time he finished high school, his mother and his second stepfather had settled in the Chicago area, so that's where he attended college.

In 1966, wanting to know his father better, he moved his wife and two young children to New Orleans. He resumed hunting and fishing, and spent a lot of time visiting with his Mam Maw Isabell McAvin, his father George III, his stepmother, the sweet Peggy Ezell Wedemeyer, and his younger half-sister Linda. But the job market was not good in New Orleans, so he moved his family back to Chicago by the end of 1969. He was always happy he had had this time with his father who died the following year after a short battle with cancer.

George worked in medical sales, and sold many products that were cutting edge technology including cryosurgical equipment and intraocular lenses. He had many opportunities to advance his career which would require moving, but he declined them so that his children were provided with the stability that his childhood lacked. He put both his children through the University of Illinois.

He is survived by his daughter Nicole Wedemeyer Miller, her husband Marc, and their children Julia, Laura and Richard; and by his son George Wedemeyer V and his daughters Annaliese and Greta. His sister Linda Wedemeyer Goldstein and her family also survive him, as well as his step-siblings Michael, Richard, and David Kulka, and Barbara Kulka McCabe. George's ashes will be placed in the Wedemeyer tomb at Lafayette Cemetery No. 1 at a private service in June, where he will rest with four other generations of his family.