Notes for: Emily Regina Abel
NEWTON, Emily Regina Abel Lawrence
Emily Regina Abel Lawrence Newton died January 7, 2005 in Santa Barbara, California, at the age of ninety. She was born on May 30, 1914, in Washington, D.C., the elder child of Susan Maxwell Abel of Clarksburg, West Virginia, and Colonel Charles Abel and was the granddaughter of William Brent Maxwell and Emma Williams Maxwell of Clarksburg.
Emily grew up in Santa Barbara, where she attended Howard School in Montecito, and in New York where she graduated from Emma Willard School in Troy. She attended Duke University, Durham, North Carolina, and graduated from the Royal Academy in London, England, where she studied acting.
Always treasuring her West Virginia roots, she was a very generous donor to Alderson-Broaddus College, endowing the Maxwell Chair in the Humanities, as well as the Alderson-Broaddus College Scholarship Fund, established in memory of Emily's mother, Susan Alice Maxwell Tutenberg.
During her acting career she appeared on the New York stage and toured with Katherine Cornell in "The Barretts of Wimpole Street" as Henrietta. That tour included an extended overseas engagement with the USO, performing before military audiences during World War II. Among her many theatrical credits were Portia in "Julius Caesar" and Kathleen in "The Prescott Proposals."
She performed professionally under the stage name of Emily Lawrence.
Mrs. Newton was first married to Robert Lawrence Balzar of Los Angeles and then to Theodore Newton, also a stage and screen actor, who preceded her in death on February 28, 1963. Thereafter, she resided in Santa Barbara near her mother, Susan Tutenberg, who died in 1970.
She cared deeply for her fellow man and was a generous supporter of social and environmental causes throughout her lifetime, including Santa Barbara Rehabilitation Foundation, Santa Barbara County United Way, Cancer Foundation of Santa Barbara, Planned Parenthood, Laguna Cottages for Seniors, Santa Barbara Foundation, Santa Barbara County Mental Health Assn., Santa Barbara Symphony Orchestra Assn., Santa Barbara Visiting Nurse Assn., Community Action Commission, KCET, Santa Barbara Humane Society, Environmental Defense Center, Community Environmental Council and G.O.O. (Get Oil Out), among many others.
Emily is survived by her brother, Brent Maxwell Abel and his wife, Corinne, of San Rafael, California; a stepson, David Newton of Northampton, Massachusetts; two step-grandchildren, Hillary and Peter Newton; a niece, Molly Abel Warner of Monterey, California; and a nephew, Brent M. Abel Jr. of Moraga, California.
In accordance with her wishes, no memorial service will be held and her ashes will be committed to the water of the Pacific Ocean.
Donations honoring the memory of Emily Newton may be made to the Santa Barbara Foundation, 15 East Carrillo St., Santa Barbara, CA 93101 or to the Santa Barbara Humane Society, 5399 Overpass Road, Santa Barbara, CA 93111.
Arrangements by Welch-Ryce-Haider.
http://newspress.com/obits/1-26-2005obits.htm