The family of former heavyweight boxing champion George Foreman revealed today that he was buried in Sioux City’s Logan Park Cemetery following his death in March of last year.
Foreman lived in Houston, Texas and had expressed a desire to be buried in Iowa after a trip through the Loess Hills in 1988 made a lasting impression on him. Foreman’s daughter Natalie says her father often spoke of the sense of peace he felt during that visit, and he was buried in Sioux City on April 17th, 2025.
“When our father passed, we faced not only the emotional weight of loss, but also the logistical challenge of honoring him properly from many states away,” she says. “During the time it took to create his headstone, there were periods of uncertainty due in part to distance. We waited, we visited often, but mostly we just trusted.”
The family gathered in Sioux City today o unveil the headstone that shows Foreman in his U.S. Olympic Uniform waving an American flag. “You treated our father not just as a famous name, but as one of your own, worthy of protection and honor, and for that we are forever indebted. Please know that your efforts reached far beyond Sioux City city limits. They reached us, they comforted us, and they will stay with us,” she says.
One of his sons, George Foreman IV, says his father brought happiness to everyone he met. “George Foreman is a trademark owner of the happiest of all time. And he would have been so proud for us to be here because the kindest, most joyful and happy people are right here in Iowa. And I got to see it firsthand. He carried that with him everywhere he went,” he says.
Sioux City Mayor Bob Scott says the planning for the ceremony has been quietly underway for the last year.
“He loved Iowa. Some of the kids got in the car and drove through Iowa. And I guess they saw the Sergeant Floyd Monument in the river and they said, called home and said, I think we found the place. Went to Logan Park Cemetery, he always wanted to be buried on a hill. They found the perfect hill,” Scott says. The cemetery overlooks the Loess Hills and Stone State Park.
George Foreman won a boxing gold medal at the 1968 Olympics in Mexico City and became the heavyweight boxing champion in 1973. He retired in 1977 and became an ordained minister, Foreman returned to the ring in 1987, and was 45 in 1994, when he became the oldest heavyweight boxing champion in history. Foreman later became know for selling millions of the George Foreman Grill.
He is survived by his wife, ten children, grandchildren and great grandchildren.
