George and Barbara met at Syracuse University while doing graduate studies. George grew up in Glendale, attended Hoover and graduated from Occidental College with a music major. He went to Syracuse for a master's degree. At Hoover he often played the organ and remembers the Hammond in the auditorium as the largest installation in Southern California.
When their master's degrees were completed, George and Barbara married. George received his Ph.D. at the Eastman School of Music at the University of Rochester. Then the couple made their home in Vienna, Austria. George studied on a Fulbright scholarship at the Academy of Music. George recalls, "We could see the Schoenbrunn Palace and the Hapsburg Zoo from our window. The palace gardens were more beautiful than Versailles. The zoo is the oldest one in Europe."
On his return to America, George embarked on an academic career, teaching in Southern colleges.
The couple returned to California in 1977, where George accepted a position with Loyola Marymount. The Klumps' daughters Anneli and Heidi graduated from Rosemont Middle School and Crescenta Valley High School.
