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WILLIAM NEWBURY Obituary
69, died on September 24, of complications from cancer. Born in Concord, MA, Bill was nonetheless a son of Brooklyn, where he lived with his wife, Priscilla, and three daughters. He was an ever present and smiling face on his block, and took comfort and community from his membership in many local organizations. Bill was a graduate of Phillips Andover Academy and Trinity College, the Yale School of Forestry and NYU's Stern School of Business, and retired from a long career at TIAA-CREF. In addition to his wife and daughters, he is survived by a son-in-law, family and friends. A service will be held at Grace Church, 254 Hicks St., Brooklyn, at 3pm Saturday, September 30. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the Grace Church Brooklyn Heights Music Fund or the Appalachian Mountain Club, where Bill worked summers as a young man.
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Memories and Condolences
for WILLIAM NEWBURY
Martha Dietz
October 9, 2017
We will miss Bill so very much in this neighborhood. For me, he was a valuable colleague on the Grace Church vestry, but more importantly, a smiling face anytime we ran into each other on the streets of Brooklyn Heights. Bill was a person you would NEVER avoid on the street, because he always had something nice to say and a lovely way of saying it. When he and Priscilla hosted brunches or dinners at their home, Bill was the most attentive host, making you feel as if you were the most valued guest there. What a gem we have lost.
Rebeccah Hope Brann
October 4, 2017
Bill Newbury. What a special person. He took people seriously enough to make light of them and won me over the first time he made fun of me, soon after I joined the fitness crew at the Heights Casino.
Dedicated
Tenacious
Present
And what a presence.
He is missed and his absence will continue to be a tender ache, not quickly relieved.
Bob and Donna Whiteford
October 3, 2017
We will always remember Bill's welcoming smile and generosity of spirit. He was an example of us all. We will miss him.
Linda Bixby
October 2, 2017
Priscilla and family, Bill's service on Saturday was a wonderful tribute to his life and legacy. We hurt with you for your loss.
Greg, Amy, Isabel, Margaret and John Rowland
October 1, 2017
Oh Priscilla and family, Bill was so dear to us. Even our young children, ages 3, 6 and 8, always felt so comfortable around Bill and so close to him. We felt warmly welcomed by you both as a new family in the neighborhood, and will always use Bill as an example as we strive to teach our children about the importance of kindness, friendliness, and community. We will miss Bill very much and will cherish the happy memories of our sunny day at the beach club, our evening at the BBG, and the many moments at Vestry and at Grace.
Cynthia Johnson
October 1, 2017
Dear Priscilla,
My deepest sympathy to you and your family.
Kind regards, Cindy Adams-Johnson
Claude Scales
September 30, 2017
It was a joy and an inspiration to have known Bill as a fellow Grace congregant and friend.p
Lucilla Marvel
September 30, 2017
Dearest Priscilla, Best neighbors ever. I always felt so secure for Jonathanand kids with you and Bill there, sharing neighborly love. So special and Bill beyond specialness . With love Lucilla Marvel
September 30, 2017
Dear Priscilla and family,
Today's. service was such a lovely tribute to Bill's impossibly positive outlook on life and belief in the good in others. We all carry has spirit forward with us, grateful to have known him and inspired by his amazing example.
With sympathy,
Scot Medbury and Brian Lym
Gail and Larry Rose
September 30, 2017
We watched each other's children grow up, across the street from each other, sharing stories and celebrations. We will cherish those Willow Place memories forever and always remember Bill's smile and twinkle in his eyes. We are sorry that we are unable to attend today's service and send our love to the entire Newbury clan!
Beth and John Kofron and Robson
September 30, 2017
Dearest Priscilla, Susie, Sophia and Cordelia,
Our hearts ache at this loss and we treasure the joy and laughter Bill brought to our lives. We anticipate a future of devotion to you and your family and thank you for sharing these most precious moments with us.
May Bill rest in eternity with the Lord,
Beth and John
Rosy Milone/Jp McDavid
September 30, 2017
Wow we will so miss seeing Bills smiling self!
Wally Brewer
September 30, 2017
Bills as always cheerful and optimistic.
Leigh & Eleanor Hoagland
September 30, 2017
So many happy memories of your stays in Maine. We are the better for having known such a vital happy and brave man.
Linda Wexelblatt
September 30, 2017
Bill is the reason I joined the Grace Church community 5 years ago. His welcome was always fun and genuine. I felt like we were close friends, and soon realized everyone thought that! We shared many a joke and a laugh doing Altar Guild and decorating the church at Christmas. Not nearly enough of that at Church! I will never walk into Grace without thinking of him. He fills the place still.
Patricia Kavanagh & Jim Grant
September 30, 2017
May we spread the love that poured forth from Bill to all of us every day of his life..
Bill and Cathy Redfield
September 30, 2017
Too many memories to be written down but they dwell in the heart as love...
Andrew Stewart
September 30, 2017
Too many memories to enumerate from Concord, to Trin, to LBC, to AXP reunions, to wish-we'd-been there at Henley. News is the best!
Andy and Lindsay
Scott Evans
September 30, 2017
Bill was one of the most genuinely kind and thoughtful colleagues that any of us have had at TIAA-CREF. We will forever miss his signature laugh and friendly manner.
Jane and Chris Carlson
September 30, 2017
Dearest Priscilla and girls,
We are terribly sorry for your loss, which we share. Bill was a wonderful friend, and we know that you, will have wonderful memories of his delightful life. Our particular memories are of Concord, Montserrat, Blueberry Hill, and our lovely trips to Brooklyn Heights. With much love
Harriet Deceunynck
September 30, 2017
Heartfelt condolenses
Steve Hamilton
September 30, 2017
Priscilla, Sophie, Cordelia, my condolences. I'll miss my Trin co-Capt, and all the great days rowing together and fun times after.
Clark Green
September 30, 2017
I will always remember Bill and his "Bon mot" greetings. He will be missed always.
Esther Schlissel
September 30, 2017
A lovely 4th of July with the Newburys.
Dot / Dave Cates / Addison
September 30, 2017
Thinking of your family and of Bill today. What a bright, kind-hearted light he was. His easy smile was contagious. We will miss him.
Much love,
Dot Cates and Dave Addison
Ken and Chris Rush
September 30, 2017
Wonderful memories. Many places. With love.
Sam Butler
September 30, 2017
So much fun over so many years. Brooklyn, LBC, daughters, and of course a successful navigation of the Shepaug River. Such a lovely man.
The Marvel family
September 30, 2017
All our deepest love and always thinking about the infinite humor and cheer Bill shared and continues to bring to our lives.
Debbie Buell
September 30, 2017
Dear Priscilla and family, we will miss Bill so much as a member of our Grace family. With love Debbie and Charlie
Vernon and Susan Vig
September 30, 2017
We will miss your smile Bill.
MarySue Ballou
September 30, 2017
Thanks for all your help when i first arrived. Mary Sue
Tom Stewart
September 30, 2017
Great sympathy in the loss of a wonderful spirit.
Maureen and Tom Stewart
miriam katowitz
September 30, 2017
Arthur and I remember Bill from over 34 years ago when Suzanne and Andrew were born and became friends. Bill was our neighbor and friend and we miss him
Sheila Baltzell
September 30, 2017
Dear Priscilla and family, we will all miss bill's smile and cheer on willow place. He is the only person who could have ever gotten me to volunteer to iron church linens! What a loss for all of us. You will be in our thoughts and prayers,
Sheila baltzell and family
Cathy Fitzsimons
September 30, 2017
Rest in peace Bill
Meghan Faux
September 30, 2017
Our love and prayers to all of you.
Love,
Maggie, Marie, Ryan and Chloe
Colin Brown
September 30, 2017
Bill was the kindest, most friendly person I have met since joining Grace. When I knew nobody else, Bill always took the time to say hi, make me feel welcome. He did not just make superficial conversation. Bill took time to get to know me and remember what was important to me. I always looked forward to seeing Bill after the family service. He will be greatly missed.
Andrew Radin
September 30, 2017
My sincere condolences. I have only the brightest memories of Bill from my first years on Schermerhorn street. I'm glad to have known him.
Steve Hamilton
September 30, 2017
Apologies, Suzy, I inadvertently omitted you from my entry. Sorry.
Brian and Kate Deimling
September 30, 2017
Bill is one of the main reasons our family came to Grace Church. He was always ready with a kind word or to share a laugh. We will miss him!
Alexis Versandi
September 30, 2017
Suzy, your father's smile and laugh I will always remember. Your kind heart and spirit is a testament to him. I am grateful to have met such a wonderful soul and to have you, his daughter, as my friend. So much love to you and your famil. Alexis Versandi
Alison Butler
September 30, 2017
I'm with you all and thinking of you during this hard time. Memories of Bill and his smile and laughter will stay with me forever. He is greatly missed.
Leslie Keiler
September 30, 2017
Seeing Bill at Grace always lifted my heart! You could just see the Holy Spirit shining out of his eyes.
Albert Rafuna
September 30, 2017
Every morning with Bill at The Heights Casino fitness center, making jokes about our terrible New York teams and how one day we would be drafted by one of those teams and take our teams to the top!
Wyatt Courtney
September 30, 2017
I remember Bill with his hands clasped behind his back and a smile. We have lived on Willow Pl only a few years - needless to say, he was welcoming and always happy to stop for a chat. A wonderful part of the community.
Meg and. George Vas
September 30, 2017
Oh Priscilla, We grieve with you but feel so privileged to have know your wonderful Bill a bit. We too shall miss him, the most positive man we've ever met. Our love, Meg and George
Claude Scales
September 30, 2017
It was a joy and an inspiration to have known Bill as a fellow Grace congregant and friend.p
Jerry Schick
September 30, 2017
Bill will be missed by many people.
Mary-Powel Thomas
September 30, 2017
What a beautiful service! Thank you, and thanks to Bill for infusing his hospitable spirit throughout Grace.
Carolyn & Richard Ziegler
September 30, 2017
As today's service demonstrated beyond doubt, Bill is universally beloved. Everyone's experience of Bill was our experience of him: Bill was perpetually bright, cheerful, engaging and warm. Our family was enriched by knowing yours and by the dozen years we were neighbors on Willow Place. We extend our warmest sympathy.
Sandra Joseph
September 30, 2017
What i will miss most is your energy. Always cheerfull and full of life. Sleep in Peace!
Jane and Dexter Ordway and Guerrieri
September 30, 2017
We think of Bill with love and will miss him. Our love and condolences to Priscilla , Sophie, Suzey and Cordelia. Jane and Dexter
Martin Friedman
September 30, 2017
Bill always made me feel so welcome at Grace!
Heidi Parker
September 30, 2017
I remember looking forward to and enjoying Mr. Newbury's visits to Colby. He always brought his sense of humor and doting love for Sophie. I am thankful for all the laughter and lunches in Waterville!
Clint Padgitt
September 30, 2017
I knew Bill as a neighbor and member of the Willowtown Association. To me he was gentle, friendly and above all modest about his background and accomplishments. I know that he did a tremendous amount of good for countless people throughout his life. May he rest in God's peace.
PS My daughter Camilla sends her deepest condolences to Suzie and the whole family.
Tom Goss
September 29, 2017
I first met Bill during the CREF years when I was l fortunate enough to be his sales coverage from Lehman Brothers. Bill was always smart and insightful, but he approached investing with humility and a great sense of humor too. Our business life quickly became incidental to a wonderful friendship with the Newbury family; my wife, Lib, and I will always cherish our time with Bill and Pricilla. We will miss you Bill. Rest in Peace...Love and Prayers from the Goss family (Tom, Lib, DeWitt and Ridgely)
Julie Hoplamazian
September 28, 2017
Much will be said about Bill's numerous wonderful qualities - warmth, exuberance, humor, and kindness. But one thing that will always stand out to me, as his priest for 4 years, was the way he read Scripture at church services. Bill read aloud from the Bible in the same manner that he spoke with a friend on the sidewalk or at the dinner table. He made ancient words come alive; it was a conversation with Scripture with the same enthusiastic inflections he employed in his conversations with real live people. He made the Word of God intimate and personal, as if the verses in front of him were as dear and familiar as his oldest friends. It was never a performance or a show. The way Bill encountered Scripture, as both new and unsurprising, and as regular as coffee talk but as sacred as life itself, was unique and special. It allowed me to experience well-worn passages as if for the first time, and I'll never forget it.
Susan Neild Basu
September 28, 2017
I belong to the California contingent of our large extended family that had a major branch centered in Concord, Massachusetts. This eastern branch, including the Newbury family, seemed very distant to us in those early days of our growing up out west before air travel became common. Bill´s mother Anne was a younger sister of my mother, and family news was shared largely through the mail. I had the good fortune, however, while attending college in the East, to be very warmly welcomed into the Concord Newbury home. They were a lively and generous family. On various visits I was introduced to spectacular autumn colors in the Concord woods and later on to its snowy fields, to New England holiday traditions, and to an enduring sense of family history reaching back to 1900 and intertwined with American political and cultural history. I felt at first a bit like a western rustic. But the Newbury family welcome surely was one reason I have remained pretty much an Easterner ever since then.
Bill and Priscilla, settling in Brooklyn, opened their home, like his Concord parents and in just the same warm and generous way, to the next generation of Californian relatives and to cousins from everywhere. Brooklyn Heights seemed to have become the new center of our extended family´s eastern branch. It is thanks in so many ways to Bill´s enthusiastic interest in family history and ties and to his energy and optimism that these precious connections are continuing into succeeding generations. He had that special spark that could ignite curiosity and energize others. I and my entire family are deeply saddened that he departed too soon.
Tony Montano
September 27, 2017
Newbury Family,
I am so sorry for your loss. I remember Bill from my first day at CREF. He welcomed me and over the years was always encouraging and generous with his time and his advice. Most of all, he was kind and thoughtful. He, amongst others, taught me to think differently and for that I am eternally grateful. Rest in peace my friend.
Elma Burnham
September 27, 2017
One of my favorite memories of Bill, or better known to us Cordy's dad, happened during our second year at Middlebury. I called Cordelia looking to join her on whatever adventure she was on during a Friday night on our fun college campus. After our friendship endured a summer apart, I somehow ended up with the Newbury house fun saved in my cell phone. I woke Bill up when I accidentally dialed the wrong number in my Cordelia contact. He answered so enthusiastically I was totally taken off guard. I don´t even think I hung up right away. I think I asked if you were there, pretending I did the whole thing on purpose even though I quickly realized I had called Brooklyn and woke him up. He didn´t seem mad at all. He cheerily explained that Cordelia was up at school. I craftily thanked him without admitting it was me calling. I enjoyed many an evening in Willow Heights or Middlebury with the family following and never once admitted to that! He embraced all of us Hadley two girls so well, and I'm forever grateful. I will miss dissecting the NYT in the back kitchen nook with Bill and his girls before Hannah wakes up :).
Michele Griffin
September 26, 2017
When we moved to Willow Place in 2011 with our two small children, Bill and Priscilla instantly made us feel part of the community. They invited all the neighbours over to get to know us and, since then, have been nothing but the best, kindest, most wonderful across-the-street neighbours we could possibly have hoped for. Bill was the life of Willow Place. He always had a groan-inducing joke and a smile for the kids. He always had an interest in what was going on in their lives. Our day was inevitably better for having bumped into him. The annual Willowtown Fair will always be associated in our minds with Bill - I can picture him now setting up tables, marshalling kids for the tug-of-war and making it all run smoothly, all the while with a smile. Sunday mornings were another time when Bill could be reliably spotted, heading to church in his nice clothes and issuing cheery greetings to passer-by. Willow Place won´t be the same without you Bill, but we´ll never forget the cheer you brought to the block, and to our lives.
Carol Brennan
September 26, 2017
Bill was a staunch friend to me and my family for over 40 years. He and Priscilla have been valued members of our key celebrations, including becoming beloved God-parents to Isla Rose Batchelor. 23 Willow Place was a home away from home to me on countless visits to Brooklyn Heights. Starting with Bill's exuberant greeting on the doorstep, soon we would be setting the world to rights over the breakfast table - be it politics, or more importantly, matters horticultural or feline. Such a loss for us all.
Maggie Maginness
September 26, 2017
I had no idea that when my brother married Sophie Newbury I'd be getting an additional set of parents-in-law. Later Bill and Priscilla attended my own wedding and Bill brought his humor and sense of adventure to the entire event. The entire Newbury family is so open-hearted and so happy to have you all as part of my family. Much love to all of you.
Heather Croy
September 25, 2017
I know Bill was an amazing dad but he was also the most voracious and dedicated fan of Packer sports, specifically Girls Varsity Soccer. I played soccer for many years with Cordy but our years in high school were the most memorable. Bill had a very distinct cheering voice and we all eagarly awaited his chants, "Go Packer!" every game. In fact, when he didn't show up (and by that I mean he was only a few minutes late because, lets face it, he was always there) we would often worry our playing ability would be impacted without the familiar cheers from Bill. Thanks Cordy and the Newbury family for sharing him for so many days after school!
Love,
Heather Croy
September 25, 2017
We would like to collect your memories, funny stories, and photos of Bill. Please post them here, or--more helpful--please send them to [email protected]. We will create a book that we can share with future generations of our family to remember him. Thank you.
Nancy Newbury-Andresen
September 25, 2017
Bill, the youngest of our family, was ever 'the rock' for his siblings .. always there for us, always ready to help, and the 'maintainer' of high spirits while making sure we all stayed connected. His laugh, his connection to "the land", and his fierce devotion to family is legendary. He will never be far from our hearts. May God-speed our ever-loving brother. Nancy, his older sister.
September 28, 2017
September 28, 2017
Easter Bill
September 28, 2017
Christmas Bill
September 28, 2017
Bill, Steamboat Springs, CO, August 2013 - on Sophie and Teddy's wedding day
September 26, 2017
With our lovely Hosts - (08/2016) - A lovely photo of a memorable stay with Priscilla and Bill.
October 6, 2017
Thanksgiving memory - (11/23/2016) - Hiking with Suzy and the dogs
September 30, 2017
Priscilla and Bill on Halloween - (10/31/2012)
September 29, 2017
Bill and the Camp Ladies! - (6/4/2011) - A carb-loading dinner in Woodstock, VT pre-Covered Bridges Half Marathon.
September 28, 2017
Hiking in the Whites - (08/1991) - Trinity classmates Ken Johnson (L), John Robson (C) and Bill Newbury (R) with Matt Johnson ans Susie Newbury
September 28, 2017
Family in Willow Place - (1998) - Our hosts at 23 Willow Place
September 28, 2017
Sophie's Wedding - (2013) - Steamboat Springs Colorado. Wedding day.
September 28, 2017
Vail Colorado - (2008) - Walking with Hazel at Corillera
September 28, 2017
Bill getting shaving assistance from his niece Elizabeth, c. 1983
September 27, 2017
Many happy memories - (2013) - At Sophie's Wedding
September 27, 2017
Bill's Trinity pals - (2013) - Pocono Lake Preserve
September 27, 2017
Bill and Priscilla - (2014) - Sophie's wedding.
September 27, 2017
Bill and Priscilla - (2013) - Bill and Priscilla's 40th wedding anniversary
September 27, 2017
Dad was always a good homework helper. Here he is with Mom and Cousin Mary posing for a photography assignment from high school on a Friday night in the 1990s.
September 27, 2017
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