Their Story

Paul and Edith met as teenagers when Paul moved to Havelock Ontario at the age of 17.  He was an acne scarred, athletic young man and she was an army-surplus jacket and trouser-wearing counter culture young woman.  Both came from loving families with parents in strong and lifelong relationships. They fell into 'like' followed soon by 'love' and they became a life-long pair.  Paul used to sit on his front porch and play “I’m in the mood for love” on his trumpet and Edith, who lived a few blocks away, knew is was time to go for a walk to his house.  Among their artifacts, they kept a dance card from a community dance that had Paul's  name filled in for 8 of the 12 available songs.  That must have served as a clear sign to others that they were wasting their time trying to cut in.

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Paul and Edith dated for several years then married at the relatively young ages of 22 and 21, with Paul being a year older. For their wedding, Paul gave Edith a gift of a loon carved in stone.  The loon was a symbol of partnering for life and one of Edith's favourite sounds in nature was the haunting call of a loon across a misty Canadian lake.

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Paul and Edith loved to camp, sit by campfires, canoe, be in each others presence, socialize with family and friends, and travel.  As a couple they travelled to, or lived in, Ontario, Saskatchewan, BC, Scotland, most countries in Europe, Japan, Hong Kong, Thailand, Malaysia, Taiwan, Bali, and throughout the USA.  They had lifelong friends from most of these places and they were old school in that they continued to mail Christmas letters out to them each year.  They were amazingly adventurous in that they raised a family of four kids in Hong Kong and even travelled with them across the Soviet Union by train one year. 

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While living in Scotland (during Paul's Ph.D. education) they had no money.  Meals were often corned beef hash consisting mostly of cabbage and a can of tomato soup. They lived just down the street from a lovely Scottish pub, but never once set foot inside.  Even though they lived in St. Andrew's, they had no money to golf, however they did get kicked off the golf course for trying to picnic beside one of the fairways.  After graduation, they took what money they had and purchased a Volkswagen beetle with modified front seats that somewhat reclined so they could use it as a simplified camper while they explored Europe for 3 months before returning to Canada. 

 

Paul and Edith had different levels of physical risk tolerance.  On one of their family adventures to Taiwan, they found themselves in a local village and wanted to go to the thermal hot springs that were on the opposite side of a gorge.  Crossing over the gorge required walking across a suspension bridge where several of the boards were missing.  Edith absolutely refused to go, but Paul and Greg went anyway.

 

As a couple, Paul and Edith were very socially aware and conscious of those around them who needed help, support, love or even just a meal or bed. Christmas time at the Newman household typically meant dining with a stranger.  In Hong Kong for one Christmas, an American soldier fleeing from Vietnam stayed with the Newmans.  Edith set one condition,  that he first wash his feet and throw out his sneakers because she could not stand the stench. This was a prime example of Edith's forthrightness and simply stating what was on her mind.  In other years, travelers from world youth outreach would spend days to weeks living with the Newman family and it wasn't unusual to have a stranger knock on the door because they had heard they would be given a meal.  Edith and Paul did not just preach Christian messages, they tried to live them too, which was not always an easy thing to do. 

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Edith and Paul were loving and supportive parents.  They adopted two children and had two of their own, all of whom were afforded the same opportunities and love. Unfortunately one son, Robert, passed away just weeks before they moved from Hong Kong to Canada in 1975.  This obviously had a profound impact on both Edith and Paul and for Paul in particular, it also resulted in his hair turning grey almost immediately at the age of 41.  In general, they raised their children to be as independent as possible while also letting them know there would always be a band aid if needed, food on the table, and a good night kiss on the forehead.

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Meal times were important to Paul and Edith.  All meals started off with grace, which in the early days was a verse from a hymn and in their final years evolved into holding hands around the table and simply saying "Thank you God for food, family and friends".  It is almost like as they got older, they simplified what they felt was most important to them in life.  

 

Edith was a "creative" cook, which was not always successful but Paul never said a word.  In retirement, Paul and Edith cooked soups for Meals on Wheels for years and one can only imagine what the clients  thought when they were served peanut butter soup!  As a baker, Edith was much more successful. Paul enjoyed barbequing and Greek Ribs were his specialty.  The Newmans were very frugal people and did not eat out much due to the expense, but on occasion they would treat themselves to an expensive dinner and enjoyed treating friends or family on special occasions.  For them, they were far more happy to gift a meal to someone than to receive one. 

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Edith and Paul's life together was not without adversity.  They lost a child to an accident, and like many parents, found each of their children had different needs and demands.  While these challenges can often serve to tear families apart, Paul and Edith grew closer together and offered strength to one another.  They both firmly believed that a covenant bond could be as strong as a blood bond. They used their covenant relationship to each other when they became married as a prime example.  They also made a covenant with their adopted children and with their daughter-in-law, Lori.  Paul felt so strongly about this belief, that he published an article entitled "Celebrating All Kinds of Families" in the Victoria Times Columnist. 

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How does one sum up two lives well lived?  When asked, Greg offered the following comment.  "For me, as their son, I always felt loved and cared for. I always loved and respected them even if I did not always agree with them. They taught me that a relationship is more about giving than the expectation of receiving.  As kids, we would sing the song 'The Magic Penny which had lyrics of 'Love is something if you give it away...you end up having more. It's just like a magic penny, hold it tight and you won't have any, spend it, lend it and you'll have so many, they'll roll all over the floor'.  The older I get the more the lyrics ring true.  I should have listened to more of that wisdom when I was younger.  Alas, mom and dad probably knew that it would sink in one day."  Paul and Edith essentially lived their lives freely giving away their love. 

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Both Edith and Paul died by medical assistance at their own wish and it was a blessing in both cases.  Both were surrounded by family and they died knowingly holding a hand of a loved one.  Neither was afraid to die, both had used their physical bodies to the last possible day.  In death as in life they led by example.  When asked by the doctor what Edith thought would happen when she died, Edith replied “We are born in God's essence and we die in God's essence".  

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Edith and Paul will be interred in a family plot in Havelock Ontario along with their parents and son Rob.​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​