Anne Catherine (Gaston) Newton, 88 of St. Joseph, died Friday, July 19, 2020.
Anne was born September 6, 1931, in Topeka, Kansas to Glenn Ernest Gaston and Catherine (Griffith) Gaston. Anne was very proud of her grandfather, Charles Griffith, who was the Attorney General of Kansas for many year and was running for governor of the state when he unexpectedly passed away.
Anne received her B.S. Degree in Education from Southeast Missouri State College in 1953. She married Jack Russell Newton on March 7, 1953. They have three sons, James, Robert and David; three granddaughters, Kristy, Misty and Tabbatha; and nine great-grandchildren. She and her husband Jack, were teachers together in five school districts. During this time, she coached softball, basketball and volleyball. Her teams won many championships. She was a teacher for the school districts in Hurculaneum, Missouri; Lake Mills, Iowa; Elkton-Pigeon-Bayport, Michigan; Rogers City, Michigan and Bridgeport, Michigan.
Anne loved all sports. She was especially good as a goalie for field hockey, as no one ever scored on her as the goalie; neither in high school or college. In addition, she played softball, basketball and volleyball in high school and college.
Anne was very well liked by everyone who knew her. When she was a senior at the Richmond Heights-Maplewood High School, she was voted Most Well-Liked Girl in school. Anne was the main organizer of the Teachers Association of the Elkton-Pigeon-Bay Port school system. She was a leader in allowing women to wear pants while teaching school in Lakers High School. She was the president of the Women's Golf Club of the Bridgeport Country Club in Michigan and demanded that the women have the right to play golf on Saturday, the same as men.
Anne's husband was a School Administrator for 29 years, and during that time period, and in three different school districts, he believed he evaluated well over a thousand teachers. He felt that his wife Anne was by far the best teacher he ever evaluated. He was always very proud of Anne as a wife, mother, a teacher and most important of all he was proud of the fact that she was a true Christian that actually walked the Christian walk. Anne will be very much missed by many people as well as family members.
Anne loved her birth family very much. They include, her brother Gary Gaston and his wife Doris; her sisters, Mary Whitten and her husband Jerry and Ginny Jarrell and her husband Mike. Anne spent a lot of time with her three granddaughters, Kristy, Misty and Tabbatha. She helped them with all their sports and music. During the time these girls visited her home, she took them shopping for school items and fall clothing. Anne always looked forward to their visits as she loved them all so very much!
Visitation will be Thursday, July 23, 2020, beginning at 6:00 p.m. with services to follow at 7:00 p.m. at Heaton-Bowman-Smith & Sidenfaden Chapel. Private interment services at Leavenworth National Cemetery will be at a later date.
Memorial contributions may be made to Gideon's International on cards provided at Heaton-Bowman-Smith & Sidenfaden Chapel.
