Ronald Ralph Newson
September 14th, 1941 — January 5th, 2022
Ron was born September 14, 1941, in Salt Lake City, Utah to Ralph and Marie Newson. The family moved to Van Nuys, a suburb of Los Angeles in the San Fernando Valley, where he graduated from Birmingham High School and then attended Pierce Junior College. He was on scholarship for gymnastics and an honor roll student at Pierce. This led to him getting a gymnastics scholarship to Brigham Young University in Provo, Utah where he was captain of the BYU gymnastics team for 2 years. He was an excellent gymnast and was the Western Athletics Conference All Around Gymnastics champion. He majored in Math and Physics. While at BYU he met Nedra Ann Lewis, and they married in June of 1967. Ron started working for IBM in 1966. He and Nedra had 6 children and lived in various suburbs of Los Angeles until 1987, when his division of IBM was moved to Boulder, Colorado. He moved his family to his present home in Lafayette, Colorado.
Ron worked as a computer programmer specialist for IBM in the Federal Systems Division. He worked on many classified weapons and space applications involving surveys of Mars and Venus. Ron was a diligent and valued employee.
He was also diligent and valued in various leadership positions in the Boy Scouts for 30 years. He loved working with scouts and helped 56 boys achieve their Eagle scout awards. He loved camping and fishing and the great outdoors and organized many 50-mile hikes and camping experiences.
He was an active and faithful member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and served in many capacities. His talent for organization was used to plan many church dinners, organize food for multiple pioneer treks, perform secretarial duties and record local church history.
Ron loved flowers and gardening. He collected and grew iris, roses and many other flowers. He loved to plant and tend a large organic vegetable gardener each year. He was a very supportive of his wife’s interest in art and crafts and helped run countless craft shows and art exhibits. He was always supportive of his kid’s activities, attending countless sporting events and choir concerts. He always showed up for his kids.
In 2014, Ron suffered a stroke resulting in years of gradually declining health. He was able to be cared for at home and passed away on January 5th. He was proceeded in death by his mother Marie Newson and his father Ralph Newson. Ron is survived by his siblings, Larry Newson (Mary), Glenn Newson (Tracy), and Linda Nichols (Terry); His wife, Nedra, and his children, Jeremy Newson (Heidi), Tobin, Sarah Markos (Doug), Jesse (Becky), Rachel, and Ben (Breanne), and 19 grandchildren.
Services
Services will be held Thursday, January 13th at The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints located at 701 W. South Boulder Rd., Louisville, CO 80027. Visitation at 10:00 am, Service at 11:00am. Internment at Green Mountain Cemetery at 12:45 pm.
Cemetery
Green Mountain Cemetery, Boulder, CO | Map
Location
None
Church
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints-Louisville | Map
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