Dean Arnold Neumann, 87, passed away on September 10, 2026, at his home in Bowling Green. Born on October 23, 1938 in Superior, Wisconsin, Dean grew up exploring the ore docks around Lake Superior, and served as an Eagle Scout. After graduating from the University of Wisconsin-Superior with a B.S. in physics and chemistry and serving as a second lieutenant in the Air Force ROTC, he began pilot training with the U.S. Air Force.
Dean served in the Air Force for six years, flying C-130 planes during the Cuban Missile Crisis of 1962, where he performed mid-air refueling missions for reconnaissance planes. During the Gulf of Tonkin incident in 1964, he received a Temporary Duty Assignment at Clark Airforce Base in the Philippines, where he flew supply and troop planes to Vietnam, earning the rank of captain.
After leaving the Air Force with honorable discharge in 1966, Dean enrolled at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, receiving his PhD in mathematics in 1971. He spent the next 25 years as a professor of mathematics at Bowling Green State University, teaching mostly graduate-level courses, researching differential equations, and completing 30 research papers. He was also the last living member of the math department faculty barbershop quartet, The Logarhythms.
Traveling to quilt shows in the early 1980s took Dean in an unexpected new direction—and a new career path. Originally just accompanying his wife, art quilt expert Penny McMorris, to quilt shows, but after noticing the geometric patterns and shapes in quilts, it sparked a business idea. His idea was to develop a quilt design program so quilters could visualize finished designs on their computer screens without sewing a stitch.
Using a first-generation IBM PC, he taught himself programming to test out the idea, developing his own Windows-based applications with DOS well before Microsoft released its Windows Operating System. In June 1992, Electric Quilt Company’s version 1 was released, and the company, located in Bowling Green, continues to operate today with thousands of users worldwide. Dean continued to program into his 80s.
He spent his free time studying foreign languages (ranging from Sumerian to Japanese), playing classical piano, and was an avid rollerblader and racquetball player.
He is survived by wife Penny McMorris, son and daughter-in-law Tim and Allison (Roth) Neumann, daughter and son-in-law Kirstin and Greg Sweeney, granddaughter and grandson-in-law Sedona and Tyler Jones, stepdaughters Erin McMorris and Megan McMorris, and great-grandchildren Emberley and Kai. He was preceded in death by ex-wife Sandy Holmes.
Donations can be sent to Bridge Home Health & Hospice, Findlay, Ohio. Funeral arrangements have been entrusted to Dunn Funeral Home in Bowling Green.
