Reginald Wayne Newsome

Reginald Wayne Newsome died on September 3, 2020 at the age of 81 in Sunnyvale, Texas. He was born on November 15, 1938 to Reginald Leon Newsome and Vivian Etta Ayers. Reginald was raised with his three sisters and a brother in and around Camp and Franklin counties near Newsome, Texas. He graduated from Mount Vernon High School in 1958 and served in the Army Reserve until 1967. Reginald married Janis Cherry in 1962. The couple had five children. Reginald retired as a buyer from Sears, Roebuck and Co. in Dallas, Texas after more than 30 years of service. He served as a deacon at Bethany Baptist Church where he taught Sunday school and sang in the choir. Reginald enjoyed watching his children play sports, sing and act and rarely if ever missed a game or performance. He loved his old stomping grounds and relished every opportunity to visit his boyhood home to experience the sights and sounds of the East Texas countryside. His family and friends will always remember him as a man of faith and conviction who was quiet, strong, ingenious, gentle, witty, and kind; in whom there was no guile or fear even as he faced painful and debilitating troubles in his mind and body. He is preceded in death by his father Leon, his mother Vivian and his sister Wanda.

Reginald is survived by his wife of 57 years Janis Carolyn; two sons Shawn Alan Newsome and his wife Jami of Richardson, Texas and Shaynor Scott Newsome and his wife Heather of Eugene, Oregon; three daughters, Shaira Lynn Starnes of Sunnyvale Texas; Shanda Lark Sloan and her husband Nick of Sunnyvale, Texas and Shaelyn Dawn Newsome of Garland, Texas; thirteen grand-children Lydia and Naomi Newsome, Jonathan and Violet Newsome, Kelton, Cason, Cambelle, Karis and Kinsley Starnes and Jackson, Katelynn, Megan and Lauren Sloan; 2 sisters Sarah Katheryn and Gwendolyne Anne and one brother James Richard along with many nieces and nephews.

Reg’s family and friends grieve this great loss because we will miss him. We also rejoice that death can boast no victory over him. Reg’s eternal life was sealed by grace through faith as he had fixed his hope on Christ Jesus the Author and Perfector of his faith. He exuded that humble confidence in his Savior even to deaths door.