George Raymond Neely, known as Chef G, was smooth and laid-back. But once he entered the kitchen? It was like night and day, his wife, Andrea Neely, recalled. 

“He was determined to make sure it was the best quality, taste, and texture,” Neely said of the meals her husband would make.

A certified executive chef, Chef G, understood that the most essential tool in a kitchen is a story, and his began in Mount Vernon, New York, where he was born in 1954. His journey was one of flair and fusion. This narrative began with classical training at Bordentown Military Institute and Johnson & Wales, all fortified by a business degree from Rochester Institute of Technology. 

In 1985, he brought East Coast and Caribbean flavors to the heartland, where he oversaw the orchestration of three million meals a year at Methodist Hospital, and whose upscale catering, under his firm Culinary Innovations, became the taste of significant events, including the roar of INDY Car races and the political theatre of a Barack Obama campaign rally in 2008. 

But the chapter of Chef G’s life that he cherished most was in the teaching kitchens at Ivy Tech Indianapolis.

“Being able to teach at Ivy Tech, he was able to plant seeds, to let students know, you can follow your passion, and the culinary arts is a great place to do that,” Andrea shared. 

For him, the curriculum was more than sauces and techniques; it was a process of unearthing. He watched for the spark of realization in a student’s eyes, the “fire,” as Andrea puts it, when one discovers their latent talent.

His pride was not in his own accolades, which were numerous, but in his generative power.

When Chef G passed away in 2019, the silence in those kitchens felt particularly profound. But a compelling postscript is now being written. In Chef G’s honor, Andrea established the George Raymond Neely Family Endowed Scholarship in 2024. The fund was designed to be a perpetual source of fuel for the fires he loved to ignite: the scholarship, a logical, living extension of his philosophy. 

“He wanted to ultimately retire from Culinary Innovations, and he wanted to teach,” Andrea explained. “What better way to celebrate his legacy and his passion than to actually honor him within a scholarship that can continue to plant the seeds through many students that will come to the program?”

The fund reached a significant milestone in fall 2025, when it supported its first recipients, aspiring chefs now beginning their own culinary journeys at Ivy Tech. The endeavor transcends mere financial aid, Andrea says; it is a bet on the enduring power of food as a universal dialect. 

“They have a value in the space,” Andrea said of the students, “because at the end of the day, food is the comfort that brings people together. Regardless of what language you [speak], food is consistent. Being able to speak a language through food will always give you opportunities. That was his impact.”

“My father’s hands told stories in every dish he created,” Paige, his eldest daughter, says. “Stories of patience, love, and tradition. As his daughter, I carry not just the flavors he taught me, but the values behind them. His legacy isn’t only in recipes, but in the way food can connect generations, reminding us that nourishment is more than a meal—it’s a memory, a lesson, and a gift to the future.”

The George Raymond Neely Family Endowed Scholarship is not simply a memorial; It ensures that the quiet, patient work of a seed planter will continue, sowing the future of culinary arts — one student and one story, at a time.

To learn more about how you can contribute to the George Raymond Neely Family Endowed Scholarship and help keep Chef G’s flame alive for future culinary artists, please visit the Ivy Tech Foundation giving page.