Gene Newman

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Gene Newman

Clinton Eugene "Gene" Newman (25 July 1929 - 12 November 1978) was a Canadian-American man. He was the youngest brother of Bruce Newman.

Early life

Gene was born 25 July 1929, in Windsor, Ontario, to Clinton Newman and Eugenia Swift. He was presumably referred to by his middle name to disambiguate him from his father, Earl Clinton Newman, who went by a shortened form of his middle name: "Clint".

As of 1939 he was living at 44 St. Louis, Riverside, Windsor, Ontario.

On 7 October 1939 he travelled with both his parents to Detroit, Michigan, to reside permanently.

He served as a Private First Class (PFC) [1] in the U.S. Army, an accomplishment noted on his tombstone.

His social security number was 385-26-1752, issued in Michigan before 1951.

He lived with his mother in the 1950s, at 13574 Cloverlawn in Detroit. Sandra Kenzie remembers visiting a few times, and staying in the attic. She recalls: "The screened-in front porch was Gene's little office and there were bookshelves full of mystery novels. That was where I first read Sherlock Holmes!"

He had 2 older brothers:

Marriage and family

He married Dorothy Falshaw (circa 1935 - 2018), late in life, and had a daughter, Karen Mary Newman, in about 1965. However, he died when she was around 13 years old.

Karen went on to become a nurse, and marry Tony Furlich. Karen and Tony have 4 children:

Karen's family as of 2020 makes their home in Cadillac, Michigan.

Death

Gene's tombstone in Spring Lake, Michigan

He lived at Spring Lake, Michigan just before his death.

He died 12 November 1978, in Grand Haven, Michigan. This is just a bit south of where his mother was living when she died, so presumably she was living in Muskegon to be near to her youngest son.

Like his eldest brother Bruce, he died an early death, aged just 49 years old. (Bruce died at 50. His other brother Jack died at 93.)

Personality

Gene holding his first cousin Lynn Newman's son Alex Atherton, circa 1978

(As told by Sandra Kenzie on 28 July 2018)

Like his oldest brother Bruce, who apparently rode a motorcycle while living in Windsor as a teenager, he also rode a motorcycle.

He was a very funny man, causing Sandra and her sisters to laugh so much while eating that they would get hiccups!

He owned a Cessna airplane, or flew them, close to Detroit. At one point he took Sandra up in one, but was disappointed that she spent the whole trip in terror. His little dips and tricks in the plane did not impress her!

Sources

Ancestry.ca