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 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.  Amongst their artifacts, they kept an actual dance card from a community dance that had Paul's  name filled in for 8 of the 12 available songs.  That must have been a clear sign to others that they were wasting their time.

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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 a haunting loon call on 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 all these places and they were old school in that they continued to mail Christmas letters out to them each year.  They were adventurous in that they raised a family of four kids in Hong Kong and they 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.  They lived just down the street from a pub, but never once set foot inside.  Even though they lived in St. Andrew's, they had no money to golf, although they did get kicked off the golf course for trying to picnic beside one of the fairways.   After graduation, they 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 risk tolerance.  For example, on one of their family adventures to Taiwan, they found themselves in a local village and wanted to go to the thermal hot springs which 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 refused to go, but Paul and Greg went anyway.

 

They were very socially aware and conscious of those around them who needed help or support or love or even just a meal or a 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 is not always an easy thing to do. 

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Edith and Paul were good 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, 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 later days evolved into holding hands around the table and 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 dad never said a word.  In retirement, Paul and Edith cooked soups for Meals on Wheels for years and one could wonder 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.  They 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 more happy to gift a meal to someone than to receive one. 

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Their 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 often tear families apart, Paul and Edith grew closer together and pulled strength from each other.  They both firmly believed that a covenant bond could be as strong a blood bond. They made a covenant to each other when they were married.  They also made a covenant with their adopted children and with their daughter-in-law.  Paul felt so strongly about this belief, that he published an article entitled " 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. Love is like a magic penny they sung to us.  If you hold it tight you won’t have any, but if you lend it and spend it you will have so many.  The older I get the truer it rings.  I should have listened to more of their wisdom when I was younger.  Alas, mom and dad knew that it would sink in one day. " 

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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.

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