June 21, 1931 – December 16, 2018
Gwen Newman; wonderful daughter, sister, mother, grandmother, great-grandmother, Auntie and friend, passed away in the arms of her loving cousin Gail Austin early on the morning of Sunday, December 16th, 2018. Gwen had struggled to be well enough to attend her beloved brother’s (Victor Newman) funeral on Saturday afternoon. She did in fact see and hear the funeral through the magic of technology from her hospice bed at Trinity Care Center. As the funeral finished, her health declined rapidly. Throughout the day, Gwen was visited by many loving family members.
Born to Norman and Tula Newman, Gwen was a free spirit who grew up loving animals, especially her horses and dogs. She was devoted to her three brothers, Victor (Winnie), Melvin (Sybil) and Darrel. After Vic married, she travelled extensively throughout the western states and north to the Arctic Circle with Melvin and Darrel. They were then and have always been incredibly close to one another.
As a child, Gwen rode her horse to Brocklehurst Elementary School and came home to work in the family orchard or pull weeds at the family’s ‘Rain-a-Day’ farm located on the property where NorKam Sr. Secondary is today.
After completing High School, she worked as a bookkeeper for Parkinson’s Building Supply and later for her family’s company, “Newman & Sons”. Although she never married, Gwen loved children and was a wonderful Auntie to Vicci (Tony), Bobby (Cathy) and Michael (Dionne) Newman.
From an early age Gwen enjoyed spending time with the Rebekah’s Excelsior #23, a local service organization. With her cousin Gail, she made lifelong friends within the Lodge and travelled throughout BC to support other chapters. Just this past summer, the BC President visited Gwen as she recovered from surgery at Ponderosa Lodge.
In 1993 Gwen’s life changed dramatically when her son Dave Danforth came back into her life from Salmon Arm, with his wife Pat, and bringing daughter’s Alexa (Matt) and Erica (Dustin) with him. Overnight she became a grandma!! There is no describing how much happiness this brought Gwen and when great-grandson, Keattan came along she was overjoyed. Gwen had the family she had always wanted!
The word that best describes Gwen is “devoted”. She loved her parents and looked after them long into their elder years. Her Rebekah family, along with brothers, friends and family also were the focus of her devotion. Gwen never missed a special occasion and loved to receive phone calls from them all, to which she would happily spend hours chatting. Although she never used a computer, Gwen kept in constant contact with her family from England, as well.
Gwen’s stubbornness was legendary and this helped her survive two very difficult operations this past summer. The medical community including Dr. Hollman, Dr. Yonkers and Interior Health RN Kate supported her through many dark moments. After moving to Riverbend Retirement Community in October, Gwen’s health slowly declined. She will be sadly missed by all who knew her.
A Celebration of Life will be held at the Rebekah Lodge (423 Tranquille Rd) on Saturday, December 22, 2018 at 2 pm. A tea will follow.