6/28/1939 – 3/1/2025
Lawrence
Rosa Lee (Murphy) Newton, 85, died at home on March 1 surrounded by loving family members after living for several years with dementia.
Rosa Lee was born June 28, 1939, in Troy, Kansas, and graduated from Troy High School in 1957. She completed teletype training in Omaha, Nebraska, and took a job with Capital Airlines in New York City in 1958.
She returned to Kansas after her beloved grandfather, Vachel Lewis, died and worked at Business Men’s Assurance in Kansas City. She then worked at Farmers Mutual in St. Joseph, Missouri, and married Otto Newton of Wathena, Kansas, on Oct. 16, 1959, in Troy, Kansas. She worked in a data entry position at Rosecrans Memorial Airport in Elwood, Kansas, before moving to Pensacola, Florida, where Otto completed helicopter flight training with the Navy.
The couple moved 16 times during their 65-year marriage, living in Chula Vista, California; Lawrence, Kansas; Bendena, Kansas; Houston, Texas; Tulsa, Oklahoma; and Kingwood, Texas, before returning to Lawrence, Kansas, in 1994.
Rosa Lee worked in information systems at the University of Kansas while Otto attended law school there and later worked at the KU Endowment Association when the couple returned to Lawrence. While living in Houston, Rosa Lee worked for the Cypress-Fairbanks School District.
She earned a bachelor’s degree in psychology with a minor in anthropology at the University of Houston in 1994 and a master’s degree in social work at the University of Kansas in 2002.
The oldest of six siblings, Rosa Lee had a nurturing nature and loved spending time with family and friends throughout her life. She was a proud redhead and a wonderful cheerleader for her family, rarely missing any outing or activity. She served for several years as a deacon at the First Baptist Church in Lawrence, following in the footsteps of her father who had been a deacon at the First Baptist Church in Troy.
She had a great sense of humor, an infectious laugh and an adventurous personality. Rosa Lee enjoyed traveling, especially road trips, often riding shotgun in Otto’s Model-T. She visited 46 states, Canada, Japan and Mexico. She had a generous disposition and made celebrations of any size festive and memorable. She took excellent care of her plants and loved the color orange (her nail polish preference the past few years) and never lost her affinity for an ice-cold Coke. Rosa Lee was a lifelong learner, often taking community classes to gain new skills, and her nightstand overflowed with novels and magazines. Rosa Lee also enjoyed going to movies and was an excellent cook and baker. Her coconut cake and cheesecake were family favorites.
She is survived by her husband, Otto; two daughters, Kim (Dan) Gronniger (Topeka, Kansas) and Kelli (Kevin) Breer (Westwood, Kansas); three grandchildren, Joe (Lacey) Gronniger; Catie Gronniger; and Keaton Breer; a brother, Marvin Murphy; two sisters, Mary (Greg) Johnson, and Becky (Miles) Gibson; two sisters-in-law, Patricia Williams and Patricia Murphy; and several nieces and nephews. She was preceded in death by her parents, Urban and Veda (Lewis) Murphy, and two brothers, Vachel Murphy and Jerry Murphy.
The family suggests memorial contributions to the First Baptist Church in Lawrence or the Visiting Nurses Association, whose fantastic employees provided excellent support to Rosa Lee and Otto and their daughters the past few months. Contributions can be sent in care of Rumsey-Yost Funeral Home & Crematory, PO Box 1260, Lawrence, KS 66044.
Visitation will be on March 27th from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. at Rumsey-Yost Funeral Home & Crematory Inc., 601 Indiana St., Lawrence, Kansas. Rosa Lee’s Celebration of Life will be on March 28th at 11:00 a.m. at the First Baptist Church of Lawrence, 1330 Kasold Drive, Lawrence, Kansas. Lunch will be provided at the church following the service. After lunch, an interment of ashes ceremony at Fort Leavenworth National Cemetery at 2:30 p.m. will conclude the services. The family welcomes you to attend any or all of these events to honor Rosa Lee and a life well-lived.
Online condolences may be sent at www.rumsey-yost.com.
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