William O. Newman

William Omwake Newman, 94, of Duncaster, Bloomfield died peacefully on March 25, 2020. Born in Waynesboro, Pennsylvania, the son of the late Samuel and Matilda (Omwake) Newman, Bill was a seventh-generation Pennsylvanian. Bill graduated from Cornell University with a Bachelor of Mechanical Engineering in 1947 after being honorable discharged from the US Navy with the rank of Ensign. He went on to obtain his J.D. from the University of Chicago Law School and he continued to support and admire their work throughout his life. While in Chicago, he married his first wife, Alice Floyd and together they moved to Alexandria, Virginia where Bill started work as an Associate Attorney at the firm of Covington and Burling in Washington DC. He was admitted to the Bar of the US District Court for the District of Columbia in 1952, the US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia in 1953 and admitted to the Bar of the Supreme Court in 1959. Family concerns pulled Bill and his family back to Waynesboro, where he took up the position of Secretary and Counsel to Landis Tool Company, a machine tool manufacturer with some 1500 employees. Shortly after Landis Tool was acquired by Litton Industries, Bill was promoted to Group Counsel for the Machine Tool Systems Group of Litton Industries, then a multinational corporation with sales over $2 billion. In 1972, he and his family moved to East Granby Connecticut, where he was admitted to Bar of the US District Court for the District of Connecticut. He continued to work as Vice President, Secretary and General Counsel of Quamco Inc after several divisions of Litton were split off. He retired in 1988. Bill was first widowed in 1982. He married Carol O'Neill who predeceased him. In a great triumph of hope over experience, he married a third time to Doris Webster, who had also been twice widowed. The two maintained homes in Bloomfield, Vero Beach FL, and Weekapaug RI and had a strong, happy marriage till her death in 2016. Bill is survived by two of his three children, Thomas Newman with his wife Gale Brancato and Katherine Newman; his grandchildren Anna Newman, Ben Newman, and John Mack. He was predeceased by his son John Newman and his four sisters, Mary, Emma, Barbara and Margaret (Peggy). Politics and golf were two of Bill's passions. As a former resident of East Granby between 1972-1985, Bill was President of the East Granby Land Trust (1981-1985), Member of the East Granby Republican Town Committee (1976-1985), Member of the East Granby Conservation Commission (1984-1985) and Vestryman at the Old St. Andrews Episcopal Church in Bloomfield. He was also a member of the Hartford Golf Club and the Shelter Harbor Golf Club, Charlestown RI. Bill continued to play golf until he was 90. At Duncaster, he was an avid bridge player and was well known for his competitive pool playing skills. He had traveled widely to see his children and grandchildren, with his last international trip to Italy on honeymoon with Dorie but had made numerous trips to visit his children on the west coast, Europe and Asia. A private memorial service will be held at a later date. In lieu of flowers, contributions in his memory may be made to Greater Hartford Legal Aid or the East Granby Land Trust.