Eleanor B. Newnan

Eleanor Bristow Unger, born November 16, 1943, in Louisville Kentucky, passed away quietly at the age of 77 on August 11, 2021, after a short illness.

Eleanor and her brother Earl M. Unger, also known as Mac, were born to Earl D. Unger, the son of Hungarian/German immigrants. From age 11, Earl worked to care for his mother and baby sister after his father died suddenly. Earl, known to us as Granddaddy, fell in love immediately with Lois Coolidge Nesbit, also known as Polly. Eleanor’s mother, Polly, had a family legacy of presidents and civil war heroes of Scotch, Irish, and German ancestry, yet she grew up under extremely difficult circumstances, having been raised by her grandmother after her mother died in childbirth. Eleanor would inherit Polly’s feistiness, as well as many other traits that came with her parents’ circumstances. Granddaddy Earl worked hard to become a Chemical Engineer, designing the distilling process still used today by Seagram’s.

Eleanor was a graduate of Atherton High School in Louisville, and The University of Kentucky in Lexington. In college, Eleanor dove into the shallow end of a swimming pool, cracking her skull, coming close to death and paralysis. But her family was familiar with overcoming adversity. Later, she met her first husband, Bill Adams, at The UK School of Music. They married and had two children, Jennifer and Elizabeth, and moved to Texas, where Eleanor received her Master’s degree in Gerontology from The University of North Texas.

Eleanor loved taking care of children, geriatric patients, and people who were disadvantaged. She was an example of compassion and generosity, taking her children to the school where she taught as an elementary school teacher, as well as her Meals on Wheels adventures,

Eleanor and her daughters eventually moved back to Louisville to support her parents, Earl Unger and Lois Coolidge Nesbit Unger. There she met Brian Newnan at a church social hour, and they were married a few months later, in July 1988.

Eleanor, always interested in medicine, then became a Registered Nurse in Louisville in 1994. The Newnan family moved from Kentucky to California, and finally to Austin, Texas, in 1996, where she worked as a Registered Nurse and book editor for Engineering Press, an engineering textbook publishing company.

Eleanor was funny, crazy, and full of life. She made the best Thanksgiving rolls, lemon meringue pie, and many more amazing treats. Never a dull moment with her around, she loved to sing beautiful hymns and her original silly songs about being busy bees in the morning, eating satisfying desserts, and even busting your head open at the shoe store. It may not have seemed like her time to go, and it'll be awfully quiet without her around. But we will do our best to sing silly songs, tell crazy stories, and make rhymes about anything and everything to keep her memory alive.

One of her most impressive passions was to create equality for all people. She marched in civil rights rallies with THE Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. in the 1960’s. This cause was so important to her that she named her first child after him: Jennifer King Adams. We could not be more proud of what our Eleanor represented. She was ornery, yet the most forgiving person in the world. She was anxious, yet extremely affectionate. She had a hard time saying no to anyone. Sometimes she would be pushed to her limits, doing so much alone to care for those she loved, but she always said, “I love you. You are beautiful. You are so smart. You are special.”

A creative artist, Eleanor played piano and was able to draw, sketch, and write beautifully. When life got tough, she used to say, as her mother did, “Put on a little lipstick.” She had many many lipsticks, not bright red, but mostly light pink. When the economy is bad, sure enough, lipstick sales actually go up. So when life gets tough, volunteer to feed the hungry, help those who are suffering, find ways to improve the world, and put on a little lipstick.

She is survived by her loving and faithful husband of over 33 years, Brian D. Newnan, her brother and sister-in-law, Mac Unger and Elizabeth Boldt, her two daughters, Jennifer Taylor and Elizabeth Adams, and her two grandchildren, James McMillan Taylor, and Jordan Aprile Taylor. We take comfort knowing she is with God and at peace.

Visitation will be held Thursday August 19, 5-7 PM at Weed-Corley-Fish, 411RR 620 S., Austin, TX 78734. Her burial will be held in Louisville at a later date