LaWes Newell

LaWes Newell was born May 30, 1957 in Montgomery, AL to Johnnie and Farrie Newell. The third of five children – all girls – her Mother often called her “the baby of the first bunch” due to the difference in age between LaWes and her younger sisters. Since Johnnie was in the Air Force, the family traveled frequently when LaWes was young, finally settling in Ft. Worth, TX when she was a toddler.

LaWes was educated in the Fort Worth Independent School District. She embraced God at a young age and spent much of her youth and young adult years active in the youth department at Mt. Olive Missionary Baptist Church. At Mt. Olive she deepened her relationship with Christ - which she would come to lean on in her later years - and formed lifelong friendships.

In the 1980s she opened a popular restaurant, Wild Wes’ Pit Bar-B-Que, which she operated with her sister, Jackie. LaWes loved to cook and even after she closed her restaurant, she was often known to cook special meals for those she loved. Following the closing of Wild Wes’, LaWes obtained her CNA and was a dedicated member of the staff/family at Wellington Oaks Nursing and Rehabilitation Center from 2007 until her death.

On January 12, 1989 LaWes gave birth to her daughter and twin flame, Sharnee’ Newell, who she loved fiercely. They were so close that more often than not, when you saw one, you saw the other.

LaWes had many friends who became family, particularly her colleagues and patients at Wellington Oaks. She loved to travel, have fun and had an unforgettable laugh. She would go out of her way to help others, and always had a listening ear and words of wisdom and comfort. Every year she facilitated a teddy bear drive with Macedonia Missionary Baptist Church to benefit the children of Cooks Children’s Hospital. The teddy bears she so tenaciously collected were then donated in memory of her daughter, Sharnee’. LaWes spent much of her free time with her god-granddaughter, Angel, who she loved very much. Her untimely passing has come as a shock to those who love her and to say she will be sorely missed is an understatement.

LaWes was preceded in death by her daughter, Sharnee’ Newell, her father, Johnnie Newell and sisters Farris (Tina) Jennings and Tanyon (Jackie) Stewart.

LaWes leaves to cherish her memories, her mother Farrie Carroll (Clyde), her sisters LaShaunda and Valencia Newell, her uncle Daniel Adams (Lee), aunt Annie Franklin, nieces Katrese Sims (Earnest), LaNitreya Barber (Torrey) and Shayla Stewart; great-nephew, Treyon Penix, great-nieces, Losuria Webb-Barber, Jazmin Barber, Nicolette Sims and Charlee Stewart as well as leaves Angel Huitt, her god-granddaughter, in addition to a host of extended family and cherished friends.