Joseph Borden Newman Jr.

Joseph Borden Newman Jr. of Harbor City, California, died on Saturday, December 15, 2018. He was a good man, husband, father, grandfather, great-grandfather & friend. The son of Joseph B. Newman and Evangeline Odom, Joe was an only child raised in Detroit, Michigan & Orlando, Florida. He received two bachelor's degrees from the University of Michigan (Mathematics & Electrical Engineering). After graduation in 1953 he married his college sweetheart, Margaret Ann Williams (deceased). They moved frequently - first to New Jersey, where they had a daughter, Barbara in 1954. Peter (deceased) followed in 1956 in California & their final child, Patricia, was born in 1960 in Pennsylvania. In 1964 they made the move to Thousand Oaks, California, where they remained for many years. Marge began teaching & Joe commuted to Los Angeles where he worked in the Aerospace Industry.

They continued their education - eventually earning Master's degrees. In 1969 Joe accepted an engineering job which took the whole family to Germany for 17 months. It was a wonderful, life changing experience for all. The family traveled all over Europe visiting castles, museums & distant relatives. Upon return to California Joe & Marge's marriage began to falter. In 1977 they divorced.

Joe met Patricia Kin (deceased), in 1980. She was a secretary working at TRW. There was an instant rapport between them & they married in 1982. Peter married Christine Harrison in 1980 & Joe became grandfather to Gwilym Joseph(deceased) (born 1982), Brittany (born 1985) & Patrick (born 1992). His daughter Patricia married Barry Brinks in 1989 & had two children: Rachel(born 1992) & Nathan(born 1995). His granddaughter, Brittany married Jonathan Greene in 2008. They now have 3 beautiful children: Noah, Sheppard & Evie.

Joe & Pat loved travelling - cruising to Mexico, visiting Hawaii, Sequoia, & visiting family & friends. In 2004 Gwilym married Samantha Rose & Joe became a great-grandfather to their son Gwilym Alexander in 2005. Sadly, Joe's son Peter died suddenly later that year & in 2007 Gwilym Joseph was killed during military service in Iraq. Joe's greatest sorrow was the death of his wife, Pat, to cancer in 2013. He never fully recovered from her loss.

Through the support of his family & friends, Joe never lived alone. He was extremely grateful to Padgett Price for her friendship & for providing room & board for he & his cat. He also felt especially fortunate to have Emily Lumantes in his life. She gave Joe both physical & emotional support, someone to care for, & an occasional a traveling companion. Without the exceptional people in Joe's life, he could not have remained in California, where he clearly wished to be.

Joe loved traveling, backpacking, skiing, cats, humor, science fiction, work, his family & friends, & especially Pat. They made each other extremely happy. All in all, not a bad life.