William P. Newton (Mansfield)'s Obituary
Bill departed this life on Thursday, Nov. 23, 2017, at 11:01 a.m. in his daughter’s home near Mansfield, MO, following a two-year fight with cancer. He was 83 years old.
Bill was born March 30, 1934, in Cedar Gap, MO, to Sam and Lena Newton and migrated with his family to California in 1943.
Bill had a lifelong passion for aviation. He earned his pilot’s license before he earned his driver’s license, owning his first airplane at the age of 17.
Bill became a United States naval aviator in 1955 and was selected as the Naval Aviation Cadet of the year. In 1957, Bill married the former Barbara Floyd of Fresno, CA, and from this union came daughters, Jennifer and Julie, and son, Jim. Bill retired as a Captain in 1979 after serving 24 years in the United States Navy.
Following retirement, Bill attended Spartan School of Aeronautics in Tulsa, OK. Upon graduation, the school hired him as an instructor, where he taught for 18 years before retiring again in 1999.
After his second retirement, Bill and Barbara relocated to the family farm near Mansfield, MO, in 1999. After Barbara’s passing in 2005, Bill remarried in 2007 to the former Janet Grilley of Tulsa, OK.
Until his death in 2017, Bill served in the local Mansfield community as the Chairman of the Wright County Industrial Development Authority; Secretary of the SE-MA-NO Electric Foundation; board member of the Mansfield Historical Society; messenger to the Missouri Baptist Convention; Sunday School teacher at First Baptist Church of Mansfield (Bill made a profession of faith in Jesus Christ at the age of nine); and flew numerous flights in support of the Experimental Aircraft Association Young Eagles program, where he enjoyed providing free introductory flights to introduce youth to aviation.
When he wasn’t involved in his local community, Bill enjoyed listening to Southern Gospel music, taking family and friends to Silver Dollar City and local shows in the Branson area, and flying friends and family to Gaston’s White River Resort in Northern Arkansas. He was also an avid listener of the Rush Limbaugh Radio Show.
Bill was a loving and devoted husband, father, grandfather, great-grandfather, and friend, who was loved dearly by those who knew him. He will be greatly missed.
Bill was preceded in death by his parents; his two brothers, Olis Newton and Gene Gaskill; and his first wife of 48 years, Barbara. He is survived by his second wife of 10 years, Janet; daughter, Jennifer Pember and her husband, Kent, of Mansfield, MO; daughter, Julie Landers and her husband, Paul, of Tulsa, OK; son, Jim Newton and his wife, Lisa, of Pensacola, FL; 11 grandchildren; and 5 great-grandchildren.
Memorials may be sent to Mission Aviation Fellowship (www.maf.org), P.O. Box 47, Nampa, ID, 83653.
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