Donald Newberry

1921 - 2010

Donald Newberry December 15, 1921 - June 19, 2010 Don Newberry was born in Tacoma, WA, to E.C. and Helen Newberry. Soon after, the family moved to the oilfield town of Reward, CA, and later to the "big city" of Taft. Don spent most of his youth in Taft, and fondly remembered growing up at the Standard Oil 11-C camp. Even though Don graduated from high school in Los Angeles after his father was transferred down south, he always thought of Taft as his hometown and attended almost every reunion of "his" graduating class at Taft High School. Don joined the Navy Seabees in 1942 and saw duty in the Caribbean and South Pacific. After the war, he returned to college at Cal Berkeley. On a visit to Taft he met his future bride, Dorothy Johnson. They married in December 1946, and were together 55 years until Dorothy's death in 2002. The newlyweds moved to Arizona where Don graduated from the University of Arizona with a degree in Civil Engineering. After graduation, he and Dorothy moved to Bakersfield, where Don initially went to work for Kern County Public Works. Most of his career was divided between working for Griffin Steel Fabricators and Valley Steel Construction. Don always loved sports and once said that if he had it to do over, he would like to have been a sports announcer like his favorite, Vin Scully. But the real love of Don's life was barbershop quartet singing. He was a member of the Bakersfield Chapter of the Barbershop Harmony Society for 57 years and sang in and competed with a number of different quartets, such as the Greenhorns and Kern Kords. For many years he enthusiastically conducted the Golden Empire Chorus. He and Dorothy traveled across the country to attend various barbershop shows and contests, and his many good barbershop friends were a joy to him throughout his life. After Don retired, he and Dorothy traveled the country in their motor home, often in the company of his cousin Harry Jungi and his wife Barbara. These were truly the happiest times of his life. Don is survived by his son, Paul (and Joanne) Newberry; daughter, Jan Gantt; grandchildren, Madeline Newberry, Ethan Howard, Katie Appel, April Gantt, and Malia Gantt. Special heartfelt thanks to Andre Gantt for his devoted care and friendship over the last two years. Don loved Andre's cooking and watching baseball with him. In lieu of flowers, please contribute to the Harmony Foundation, 110 7th Ave. N., Nashville, TN, 37203-3704. Services will be held Wednesday, June 30 at Parkside Church, 2515 Church Ave., Bakersfield, at 1:00 p.m. Doughty-Calhoun-O'Meara www.bakersfield.com/obits