George O. Neiss

WARREN, Ohio – George O. “Chicken George” Neiss, 85, a 50-year resident of Seneca and Canyon City, died May 3 in Warren, Ohio.

Mr. Neiss was born April 30, 1929, in Warren, to George A. Neiss and Bertha Plant. In 1946, he left Ohio and headed to Oregon. After a short stay in the Ontario area, he moved to Seneca in 1947, where he lived as a bachelor at the old Seneca Hotel, and began working for the Edward Hines Lumber Company.

In 1962, he married Willa Jeanne Geer, who had a 2-year-old daughter, Lisa Marie. Together they had a daughter, Anna Caroline.

In 1969, they bought the Prairie Maid drive-in next to Grant Union High School. They divorced later that year.

He retired from Hines Lumber in the late 1970s, but continued to run the successful Prairie Maid business until the late 1980s. He also worked for the City of John Day, and as a bus driver for Grant School District No. 3. He drove sports and dance teams, science clubs and band/choir groups to various events throughout the state and also did the Seneca route for many years.

In the 1990s, he moved back to Warren to take care of his family home. He and his friends like to attend large auctions, where he enjoyed riding his three-wheeler bicycle. He attended the Jewish Center – “The J” as his friends called it – three times a week to work out and swim. He kept his huge yard mowed and cared for with his Kubota tractor.

He enjoyed weekly gatherings with his large, extended family in Ohio. He also loved dogs, and had several over the years. His last, and favorite, was Dawg, whom he got from his daughter, Lisa and her husband, Tracy. He requested her ashes be spread with his.

He was a member of the John Day Elks Lodge for many years.

Survivors include his daughters, Anna Caroline Neiss and Lisa Marie (Tracy) Valade; granddaughter, Cheyenne Delphine Valade; sisters, Barbara (Tom), Pat (Carmen) and MaryLou (Herman); many nieces and nephews; and great-nieces and nephews.

He was preceded in death by his brother, Richard Neiss; sisters, Francis and Shirley; brother-in-law Eddie McCormick; and nephew, Bobby Dunn.