Mary Tate Newton
Mary Tate Newton
Mary Tate “Tatie” Newton passed away at home in Newport Beach on March 28, 2013, after a year-long struggle with breast cancer. During this time she encouraged all her women friends to be current with their mammogram screenings.
Mary was born in Birmingham, Alabama, on December 17, 1942, to the late Guy M. Tate, Jr., and Jane Munger Thach Tate. She was predeceased by her younger brother, Guy M. “Bo” Tate, III. She is survived by her husband of 27 years, Gary F. Newton, of Newport Beach; her brother’s wife, Dale F. Tate, of Columbia, South Carolina; and her husband’s sister, Peggy D. Newton, of Sheffield, England.
She is also survived by nephews Reginald Heinitsh, III and Stewart Tate, and nieces Elizabeth Foley and Dale Roberts.
Mary attended school in Birmingham and followed in her father’s footsteps to Auburn University. She held executive secretary positions in Birmingham and Atlanta, and moved to Southern California in 1972.
Mary approached all activities with an incredible degree of energy and focus. She started playing tennis when she moved to Southern California and by 1980 won the prestigious Adoption Guild doubles B’s with her partner, Carol Williamson Beatty.
She later started an interior decorating business in Orange County which she continued in Northern California when moving there in 1985 with her husband. They returned in 1991 to Newport Beach.
She was active in the Newport Harbor Republican Women club and served as membership chairman for a number of years. She loved to be part of a celebration and celebrate birthdays, anniversaries and special occasions, to surprise others and tell stories. She created numerous notecards on the computer for friends, knitted hundreds of scarves, and assisted friends with computer problems. Most of all, she had a caring heart and was always there for someone in need. Friends describe her as bubbly, passionate, spunky, vivacious, determined and efficient.
Mary became very involved with the “Gogo Grandmothers” organization during the last few years. This Christian group assists orphans in Malawi who have lost parents from AIDS, and grandmothers (gogos) who in many cases have taken over parental responsibilities. Mary edited a prayer guide to be used by the gogos in villages, formatting the guide in English and a separate guide in the local language – Chichewa. She also designed and created laminated “ABC” books with wonderful pictures for the schoolchildren to learn the alphabet.
Another passion of hers was photographing dahlias and creating calendars from the photographs for friends and family.
In lieu of flowers, the family suggests that donations be made to Gogo Grandmothers – Mary Newton Scholarship Fund, 3460 Marron Road, Suite 103-476, Oceanside, CA 92056 (www.gogograndmothers.com) or the charity of your choice in her memory.
Memorial Services in Celebration of the Life of Mary Newton will be held on May 11 at 10 AM at The Chapel at Mariners Church in Irvine, (5001 Newport Coast Road at Bonita Canyon Road, 92603 – 949.769.8100)