Edward Philip Newman

1945 - 2019

Edward Philip Newman, a former commodities broker in the soybean meal pit at the Chicago Board of Trade and longtime resident of Hinsdale, IL, and Naples, FL, died unexpectedly on Saturday, December 14. He was 74.

Ed was born in East Orange, NJ, to David and Doris (Stern) Newman on July 7, 1945, and moved to Chicago as an infant. He grew up on the South Side attending Parkside School and graduating from Hyde Park High School.

After a year at UC Berkeley (where he was more committed to playing cards and selling sandwiches than attending classes), he transferred and graduated from Parsons College in Fairfield, Iowa. He earned a master's degree in computer science from Texas A&M in 1970.

He met his wife, Susan Morris, while working at a small computer company in Dallas, Texas. They married in 1971 and returned to Chicago in 1973, where he joined his father, David, a longtime soybean oil trader, trading commodities at the Board of Trade.

This began a storied career in the markets. An excellent broker, he was in his element on the trading floor. Off the floor, the markets were never far from his thoughts. When driving through the midwest on road trips with his family, he would pull over to evaluate the state of crops to inform his work. Visiting with farmers and the local grain elevator operator in small town Missouri was another favorite research past time.

In the late 1980s, he led a short term mission trip for his church and discovered his favorite way to be of service to others. After that, he could frequently be found as the "team dad" corralling short term mission volunteers from churches all over the US in areas around the world from the Philippines to Central and South America and southern Africa.

He was happiest spending time with his family and being useful to others: serving on boards of organizations he supported, leading mission trips, and tirelessly performing any task (large or small) to benefit his community and church outside Cape Town, South Africa, where he lived much of the year for the last decade. He was unfailingly generous and was known for his personal integrity and loyalty, his penchant for hyperbole and his unique ability to talk endlessly on a wide variety of topics, the better to share his encyclopedic knowledge thoroughly and with nuance.

His daughters will remember him fondly in daily activities: enjoying ice cream and coffee in any season or temperature, appropriate use of the left lane in highway driving, composing a lengthy email, and creating (and endlessly stoking) a roaring fire whenever the opportunity presents.

He is survived by his daughters Caroline (Adam) Young of Fort Collins, CO, and Kate (Mark) Chittenden of Lafayette, CO, and four beloved grandchildren, his sister Carol (Peter) Gluck of New York, NY, nephews Thomas (Anne Langston) Gluck of New York, NY, and Will (Trista Gladden) Gluck of Hollywood, CA, nieces Jeanette (Michael) Stevenson of Columbia, MO, and Allison (Nathan) Williams of Savannah, GA, his former wife, Susan, of Downers Grove, IL, and seven grandnieces and nephews as well as his former sister in law, Donna (Preston) Wight of Edmond, OK.

In lieu of flowers, donations in Ed's honor can be made to his favorite organizations: Extreme Response International (www.extremeresponse.org), EncouragementLink (PO Box 11, Felch MI 49831), Living Hope (www.livinghope.co.za) and King of Kings Baptist Church (www.kingofkings.org.za). Memorial services will be held at a future date.