George Reimann, MD

I’ve known George since 1987. I worked with him at St. Anthony’s Community Hospital in Warwick,NY & later at the Vernon Urgent Care Center in Vernon, NJ. We were friends who shared August birthdays. He was just a few days older than me. I will miss George & I’m sorry he is gone. He was a cutting edge Emergency Doctor when I was working as a RN. I will miss my long conversations with him.

It is a very sad message.
My friend George was remarkable person who had the ability to influence the other people. He will stay in my memory forever.

On August 8, 2024 the night time sky welcomed a new star shining brightly…George J. Reimann.

Over the 38 years of our friendship we had many adventures. From skiing and white water rafting in Colorado to hiking the Flat Irons (even though the sign stated NO HIKING BEYOND THIS POINT due to the Mountain Lions territory, we continued anyway). Enjoying Downtown Boulder and Denver TO the art galleries, museums, antique shows, plays, Winter Solstice concerts at St. John Devine, rollerblading in Central Park, frisbee in Sheep’s Meadow, Orchid shows at WTC along with Sooooo much more in NYC. To Brooklyn Botanical Gardens for the Cherry Blossom festival. To Warwick where we gave you a surprise 35th birthday party/pig roast at our home. To enjoying a glass of Moscato from Trader Joe’s which you took a liking to over the past few years! Na zdravi!!!

Life had definitely been an adventure for Good Times along with difficult times for an “Olde Soul”.

Your love along with knowledge of Art and Antiques was PHENOMENAL, it must of been in the Reimann bloodline, something passed down from your family. As your cousin Zuzka who is a designer, author, and film director too.

You were also a horticulturist. Your orchids and plants including the one you brought back from your trip to Iraq and your mom’s African Violets ALL thrived with your “green thumb”.

Your love of travel took you to all corners of the world.

You traveled with your “kids” and photos of your mom everywhere, either in your backpack or on your walker, and sprinkled your mom’s ashes in various beautiful places. Then in 2022 you made a trip to Slovakia to return your mom to her final resting place along side Atlasz and Irena’s gravesite. You also spent time in Poland exploring the countryside along with the underground salt mines.

Now you have joined your Family along with your best friend Jeffrey who left this world way too soon, so many years ago.

You lived your life according to George. You would tell me I was stubborn, BUT I think you were more so…It was YOUR WAY and no other way!!!

You healed and saved MANY lives throughout your years as a Physician, and yet NO ONE could save you. You knew your body was not listening to you, and you tried your damnedest to keep going. George you put up a fierce fight. I can only hope now you are pain free and at PEACE…maybe even taking that hot air balloon ride over Cappadocia!!!

Soar high my FRIEND…keep that star shining bright…especially during the Full Moon!!!…

Dokud se znovu nesejdeme

Love you My Friend,
Monica Bradner

It felt almost unreal but absolute when I heard of his passing. I have known Dr. George Reimann since 2020, when I worked with him as a physician associate where we had bonded over our mutual interest in art. He was an avid art collector, and I am an artist, and we used to go to galleries after work and discuss art history. He could recognize who painted an art piece by the type of paint strokes used. He would say how he had an eye for art but I had the talent to create it. I had lost my motivation to create, but he had inspired me to not waste my talent.

He was a brilliant man and a complex character who persevered with his own inner struggles. He didn’t have a family of his own, but would jokingly say that if he did have a son, he would have been around my age. He would offer his words of wisdom, and was like a father figure to me. He was there when my mom passed away, so I wanted to be there for him during his lowest. Growing up, George’s family was killed during the Holocaust and he and his mother were the only survivors. They had fled and eventually ended up coming to the US. Throughout the few years I knew him, he shared with me his hopes and dreams and also his many regrets. He tried to live his life to the fullest, and enjoyed meeting new people. He had survived many near death experiences, from almost drowning in a fountain at age 6, to getting assaulted and mugged, to almost falling off a cliffside, but this time it was different.

In 2022, unbeknownst to him, he had osteomyelitis in his spine, and his vertebrae collapsed while riding a citi bike. He suddenly lost sensation and strength in his legs and narrowly missed getting run over by a bus. Using his bike for support, he dragged himself to the nearest hospital where he had to have emergency surgery, but there were a lot of complications. Months later, he had a fall causing the titanium rods to break, resulting in additional surgeries. From 2022 to 2024, I would see him slightly recover, but each time, he would return far worse. In the end, he had lost the strength and sensation in his arms and legs, had several torn ligaments and tendons, and was losing his sense of vision and taste as well. He also had a colostomy bag and foley catheter in place, and an open wound on his foot which was infected

He was an emergency medicine doctor for over 40 years, and a first responder during 9/11. While working out at a nearby Equinox, he witnessed the World Trade Center attack first hand. Instead of taking cover, he bravely ran into the smoke and chaos and helped those he could. He had saved thousands of lives over the course of his career and epitomized what it meant to be a real hero, yet he was humble and hardly mentioned it. Although he touched so many lives, sadly there aren’t a lot of people that know what he went through in his final moments.

As a doctor himself, he had the unique perspective of experiencing healthcare from both sides. In his final days, he mentioned to me how the American healthcare system had unfortunately gone down the shitter. He too felt like he was making his final laps around the drain. I see it too now first hand how the healthcare system in the US needs a major overhaul. He would mention to the attending physician his signs and symptoms, what the diagnosis was, and how it should be treated, but his concerns fell on deaf ears.Throughout his several hospitalizations, he said he was experiencing medical malpractice first hand, but there was nothing he could do. Healthcare professionals weren’t taking care of him properly, but he was trapped in his own body and helpless. A system that should be helping the vulnerable and listening to their patients had ironically failed him. His situation felt truly hopeless and he was even contemplating suicide.

I tried my best to help him out as much as I could, but as his situation went from bad to worse, his health kept deteriorating. I had seen him a week before he died, and through the months leading up to this moment he had pretty much become bed bound. From initially meeting this man who was physically active and full of life, to becoming a prisoner in his own body was hard for me to see. Through it all, he still held onto his sense of humor and charisma to keep his sanity. He told me he no longer feared the end as it was always something meant to be. However, we both knew though that it wasn’t going to be a happy ending for him.

I wanted to document his unique struggle which is the human experience so everyone knows what he went through. Let us remember him for who he was and commemorate his memory. You are finally at rest and no longer suffering my friend.

George,
You spring unbidden into my mind often. Skiing in Austria with Paul and Jeff, while pushing our rented BMW to max on the autobahn. You unhesitantly leading me to performing CPR on a skier only to be stopped by the Austrian LifeFlight because that’s their ethos. Skiing yet again in Aspen and you seducing my girlfriend’s companion…you irresistible rogue. You were a bright flame who was beat down over time to a smouldering ember my dear friend. I wish I could have helped you more but you will live in my memories.

I knew George “Jirka” when we were children in Kosice, Slovakia. He would come to spend summers with his grandparents Irenka and Illes Atlasz who were good friends with my parents. We lost touch for many years until he came back to Slovakia to visit Irenka who was getting older and sicker. That was many years ago. He was truly a bright light and enormous fun to be around. His good looks and wit helped. I am so sorry to learn about his last days being so miserable.
Rest in peace my friend

Renata Rodanova

I first met George in 1982 on the beach at Sportsmans Pier. He was a stunning man and had my attention immediately! He was reading a book titled Surgery of the Hand. I was a Respiratory Care Practitioner and we found we had a mutual friend in Carol Varga. After meeting on the beach we were together every day for the remainder of his vacation. He had returned to NC after having worked in the ER there for a short while. We enjoyed ‘working out’ with the new Nautilus machines as well a jogging and good food and art and more. I joined him in NY for brief time. We wined and dined. Spent days at MOMA and Guggenheim and all the fun spots. I will always think of him whenever I see a Bird of paradise flower. He bought me one from a street vendor in NY. Also he tried to introduce me to sushi… but I could not eat it and was mortified to spit it out in his trash can. I came to back to NC and we drifted apart. I wish I could have helped take care of him in his last days. I would have loved to help him laugh and make things easier for him. I will always remember him at his best with a dazzling smile and twinkle in his eyes the night he ate a whole steamed shrimp shell, legs and all. I don’t know how he crunched it so easily while laughing at my shock! Never a dull moment with George! He knew how to live!