Lila Mary Newlin, 98, on December 3, 2011 our Mother was called to be with her Lord. She was born June 21, 1913 to parents John and Myrtle (Hennigh) Brougher on a farm just east of Sabetha, Kansas. As the last surviving member of her immediate family, she was preceded in death chronologically first by brother, Harry of Sedalia, MO., both parents, grandson, Jeff Bailey, her husband, James Calvin, sister, Velma Radke of Topeka and daughter, Karen Bailey of Loveland, CO. While they were students at Sabetha, she met James C. Newlin, born July 22, 1910 at Wetmore, KS. They were married June 23, 1933 at the Sabetha Methodist Church parsonage and established their home in Sabetha. To this union were born the following four children: Jeanine Hannah (Bob), Judith Hanna (John), Karen Bailey (J.R.) and Gregory Newlin. In addition to the above are five grandchildren: Valerie (Hannah) Smith, Victoria (Hanna) Gray, Kimberly (Hanna) Post, Mark Hanna and April (Bailey) Lepore. There are also seven great grandchildren and one great great grandchild.
At the age of 98, she had outlived many of her friends younger as well as older. In this town she will always be remembered for the comraderie achieved spent in the kitchen of the Methodist church along with the door to door canvassing for community projects such as raising money for the drapes at the City Hall. Back in the late 1960’s, she was Samborn Cook’s employee that operated Sunny Fabrics because of her expertise as a seamstress. Over the years with many changes in the ownership of that business, she continued to be an important part.
She is the third generation of pioneer stock that settled Pennsylvania Avenue in Northwestern Brown County and the second generation of her Hennigh ancestors who settled on the open range of the early 1870’s just west of Sabetha at Price. Because of this and her knowledge of those things that are not always documented, she has been a good source for my genealogical research and I have been both fortunate as well as wise to get it down on paper. Returning to this area 18 years ago to take care of both her and my father, we have become very close. This closeness had enabled me to see that over the years she had achieved something ever greater than age. Many people liked this woman and in this day and age that is an attribute.
Funeral service will be Thursday, December 8, 2011 at 10:00 a.m. at the Popkess Mortuary Chapel in Sabetha. A visitation will be held on Wednesday evening 7:00 to 8:00 p.m. at the funeral home. The burial will be in the Sabetha Cemetery. An avid gardener for most of her life, Lila loved her flowers and there will be flowers at her service, but her family suggest in lieu of these that a monetary gift in her memory can be made to either the Sabetha Community Hospital, Sabetha Methodist Church Building Fund or the Nemaha Co. Home Health & Hospice sent in care of the funeral home.