Midland Remembers: Part II of the Newman family story
NATHAN MORGAN
Posted: Wednesday, December 16, 2009 12:00 am
(Marion Cox lost her mother when she was 7 and spent the next two years living with her grandmother, Marie Thiede. Marie left a lasting impression on her little granddaughter. Attending Lutheran Day School and Lutheran High School in Milwaukee, Wis., Marion was only 17 when she enrolled in the Lutheran Teachers College in New Ulm, Minnesota. At the age of 18 she was given a call to teach school in Benton Harbor at St. Matthew's where she met her future husband, Leonard Newman. Her story continues.)
Taking classes for five years and doing two summer vicarages, Leonard Newman graduated and accepted his first call to Kenton, Ohio. Marion, Len and their two small children lived there for the next two years. Their daughter Christine was born in Kenton but when she was only two weeks old the family moved to Tawas City in the middle of winter.
The Newmans stayed in Tawas City for the next eight years. Although Len's salary was small, at last they had a steady income. The twins Elizabeth and Ruth were born in Tawas City and two years later, Kathleen. "I came with three and left with six. I couldn't afford to stay there any longer," Marion said.
In 1962 Len accepted a call to serve at Iva (today, part of Hemlock). It was here that Len's reputation of as a peacemaker in congregations that were having trouble became noticeable.
In 1966 he accepted a call to serve the congregation of St. Paul's in Sanford. Still serving the church at Iva, Len drove to Sanford on Sunday evenings to conduct worship services and one night he asked Marion to go with him. He said to Marionthat "it's so beautiful over there."
"I just went along to see how pretty Sanford was," she said. She was sold on the little town and the Newman family shortly moved to Sanford.
With their six children in school all day, Marion's teaching career received a jump start when she was asked to substitute teach at St. John's in Midland for two weeks because one of the teachers was ill. This turned into 17 years. In the meantime the congregation at St. Paul's in Sanford grew by leaps and bounds and something called the 400 Sunday became an annual affair. Each elder was given 10 members to call on and Pastor Newman personally contacted 100 members in one week.
Once asked about the zeal he displayed in contacting members and non-members alike to come to church he replied, "There won't be anybody in heaven that doesn't want to be there."
In 1961 Len and Marion decided to travel to Europe for a vacation. "People thought we were joking. People as poor as we were didn't go to Europe for a vacation," Marion said. The children were divided up among the relatives while Len and Marion toured Europe.
Then in 1965 they decided they really wanted to visit Russia. Aware of the history of the Volga Deutsche as the Germans were called who had settled in Russia by the Volga River, Len wanted to see the country first-hand where his ancestors had once lived. These were the years of the Cold War and Len and Marion were warned that they probably couldn't get a Visa. Having a passport wasn't sufficient for Russia. They had to have a visa approved by the Soviets.
They applied for a visa in the winter of 1964 — it was approved in July of 1965. "They dragged their feet," Marion said.
On their way to a month's stay in Russia they had to stop in Detroit to pick up their visas. Even there they ran into bureaucracy and forms had to be filled out. When Len handed the form in, it was refused. What was wrong with the form that had been filled out? The date had been left off.
Len and Marion finally left for Russia with their passports and visas firmly in hand. Rationing was still in effect behind the Iron Curtain. Prepaid ration books were needed for gas, oil, food and their hotel. If one didn't use their coupons up each day there was no refund.
The coffee was undrinkable. Marion asked for lemon with her tea and she was informed there were no lemons in the city of Moscow. Surrendering to the bureaucracy, Len and Marion used up their food ration stamps by buying a bottle of Russian champagne and then inviting others to share it with them during the evening hours.
They rented a small Russian car but getting gas was often a problem. A town of 40,000 people would have a total of two gas stations. For every 200 people there was one automobile. When Len and Marion asked where the next gas station was, they would be pointed in a direction, "But we never knew how far the gas station was from where we were at the time," Marion said.
Hitchhikers were a common sight along the Russian roads. "You would see a Russian mama carrying a baby standing by the side of the road with her thumb held out for a ride. We'd stop and then papa and two more children would come out from behind the trees to ride, too," Marion.
Travel continued to be a part of the couple's life. They went to Russia again in 1969 and added Poland, Romania, Czechoslovakia and Hungary to their itinerary. In 1972 they traveled to Israel and Egypt, In 1981 they traveled to Africa where her brother Raymond was a missionary. In 1983, they took trip back to Israel and in 1986, South America.
In 1986 Len decided to build a home on the 240 acres of property they had owned since 1969. Using a chain saw, he began cutting down trees on their property and the log home went up little by little. Everything in the home was made from the trees on their property. Only the plumbing and electricity were put in by contractors.
Len retired from the public ministry in 1989 and passed away in 2003. Today Marion continues living in the home that Len built for them 20 years ago. She remains active in the Right To Life organization and People to People, even going to the extent of hosting some of the young foreign students. She remains close to her five daughters; her son Billy died in 2005. Her six grandchildren range in age from 14 to 38. The Newman family can be summed up in the words of Sir John Bowing: "A happy family is but an earlier heaven."
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GJ - Thank you, Leonard and Marion Newman - great friends and faithful Lutherans.
Here is Part I.
