George A. Haffeman, 90, De Pere, passed away peacefully on Tuesday, December 15, 2020. He was born May 10, 1930, seventh of nine children to the late George and Anna Haffeman in South Dakota. In 1931 the family moved to a forty-acre farm in Hawkins, Wisconsin. In 1941 the family moved back to Mobridge, SD. While in high school, George was selected by the faculty to represent their school at the first session of the South Dakota Boys' State. He also was an accomplished athlete in three sports—football, basketball, track. He graduated in 1948. He attended college at Northern State Teachers College and South Dakota State, but chose to enter the Navy in 1951. He and all five brothers served our country proudly as members of the Armed Forces. George was the only Navy man of the family and served on the U.S.S. Lake Champlain, an aircraft carrier during the Korean War. This tour of duty was followed by a tour in the Mediterranean. He was discharged in 1955. George then attended the University of Wisconsin for a short time before transferring back to South Dakota State where he received a bachelor's degree of Science and a master's degree in Educational Administration. For thirteen years George was the industrial arts teacher at Plymouth High School. In 1970 he became principal of Waterloo High School, then became principal at Algoma High School in 1973. While there he introduced many beneficial changes to the Algoma school system, such as chartering The National Honor Society; updating the school grade point system to match college entrance requirements; developed the school logo; and brought in visiting teachers from Thailand, China, and Paraguay. He retired in 1992. George was an active member of St. Mary's Parish, Algoma Optimist Club, and for a time managed St. Mary Cemetery. He married his college sweetheart Janet Van Ornum of Wisconsin Rapids in 1948, and they raised three children together: Michael (Susan Kirchman) Haffeman, Kathryn (David) Lemke, and David Haffeman. He was also blessed with grandchildren Khia Massey, Josh (Whitney) Lemke and Jaime Lemke; plus a great grandchild Landon Lemke. After a long illness through which George was constantly at her side, Jan preceded him in death in February, 1996. In 1998, he met his next love—Bernice Lytie--on a blind date set up by mutual friends Tom and Betty Van Lieshout. Tom and Betty were successful matchmakers! as George and Bernie were married in September, 1999. During their years together, George and Bernie spent many winters in Florida, golfing and playing pickleball; and many summers at Bernie's cabin on Surprise Lake in Townsend, WI. Besides George's children and grandchildren, he is survived by Bernice and her children: Rick (Cathy) Lytie, Debbie (Jack) Riggs, Mark (Debbie) Lytie, Koko Lytie (Karen Hentoff), Katie (Chuck) Luciano, Anne Lytie, and Dan Lytie; and grandchildren Kristin Elizabeth Lytie, Sarah (Matt) Hettmann, Rachel (Travis) Janowski, Jenna, Charlie and Grace Luciano, and RyAnn Lynch. He was preceded in death by his first wife Janet, as well as his parents, his seven brothers (Donald, Richard, Robert, Leonard, Gordan, Melvin and Melvin's twin who died at birth), and his sister, the oldest of the children, Violet Rose. Friends may call after 9:30AM Saturday, December 19, 2020 at Our Lady of Lourdes Parish Family, De Pere until the Mass of Christian Burial at 10:30AM with Fr. Peter Ambting O.Praem. officiating. Burial will take place at St. Mary's Cemetery, in Algoma in the spring. A livestream of Mass is available on the Ryan Funeral Home Face Book page. The family would like to extend a special thank you to Heartland Hospice's nurses and aids for their care of George the past several months. The full service can be found here: https://www.facebook.com/ryan.funeral.home/videos/181912040292849