Gertrude Lydia Fleisher Schumann was born in Lake Geneva, Wisconsin on May 24, 1907. She was the daughter of Hermann Fleisher, a Lutheran pastor and educator at Northwestern University in Watertown. Schumann lived in Lake Geneva for fifteen years and then lived in Hustisford before moving to Watertown where she attended Northwestern Preparatory School. After graduation, Schumann worked as a secretary and at the Bank of Watertown. On September 2, 1929 she married Harold L. Schumann whom she met while working at the bank. Harold Schumann was the president of the bank and worked there for forty-five years. The Schumanns had three sons: Thomas, b. 1932; John, b. 1935; and David, b. 1937.
