George Emerson Newcom

1946 - 2010

George Emerson Newcom

Beloved husband and father, son, brother, uncle, and friend.
A kind and loving, gentle soul, always his helping hand to lend.
So much more to live, so much more to tend, so much more to give, way too soon to end.

George Emerson Newcom was born September 5, 1946 in Council Bluffs, Iowa.

George's family moved from Omaha, Nebraska to Berkeley, California in 1957 when his father accepted a teaching position in the Math Department at Berkeley High School.

George loved music and played piano, trumpet, and drums. Music was always a part of his family's life as his father played accordion in his own swing band in the 1930's, and his older brother played saxophone when he was in high school. George was in the Berkeley High School marching band during the time when the band performed in two Rose Bowl parades in Pasadena and at the World's Fair in Seattle, Washington.

George graduated from Berkeley High School in 1964, and was a music major at Sonoma State University in Rohnert Park and Merritt College in Oakland. In the late 1960's George played drums with "The Loading Zone," a popular Bay Area Rhythm and Blues Soul band that opened for headliners at San Francisco's Fillmore Auditorium, Avalon Ballroom, and Winterland, as well as recorded an album with RCA Victor, and went on one national tour.

George met his future wife, Anne Buffum, when they were in high school. Although they were not high school "sweethearts," they knew each other and actually double-dated once.
After high school they coincidentally attended the same college and were at one time both engaged to be married to other people; however, both engagements broke up, and in summer of 1967 after their paths kept crossing in the most unexpected places, they started walking down the same path together and were married on August 1, 1968.

George chose a broadcasting career over professional drumming, although he continued to play in various bands over the years, the most recent being the band "Bad Daddy," most of whose band members had also played together in a rock band in the late 1960's. George and Anne moved to Redding from Berkeley in December 1969 after he accepted an announcer's job at Radio Station KVCV and went on the air for the first time on New Year's Eve, 1969.

During his broadcasting career, George had been News Director, Program Director, and morning talk show host for Radio Station KQMS; Redding's news reporter for KHSL TV; and Program Director and talk show host for Radio Station KNR. In addition, George hosted a production, "Challenge of the Minds" by the local PBS TV Station, and was the Interim Director for Community Access TV.

George and Anne have a daughter, Heather, who has recently moved back to Redding after living the past year in Chico and a decade in San Diego where she owned a fitness center for the disabled. During the years since George retired from broadcasting, he has been managing and maintaining rental properties which he and his wife Anne co-own with George's parents.

George and Anne have been long-time members of Mt. Calvary Lutheran Church in Redding, and they sang together in their church choir.

George passed away July 1, 2010 at the age of 63 of a dissecting aortic aneurism.
He is preceded in death by his mother, Grethel Newcom, and is survived by his wife Anne, his daughter Heather, his father Samuel G. Newcom, his brother Samuel R. Newcom, his sister Joy Newcom-Wade, four nephews, three nieces, two great nephews, and six great nieces.

A memorial service will be held on Saturday, July 17, 2010, 2 P.M. at
Mt. Calvary Lutheran Church on Alta Mesa Drive in Redding.

Please sign the guestbook at http://obituaries.redding.com