Mr. Richard Wales Newby Jr.

Richard Wales Newby, Jr., 91, a U.S. Navy combat veteran and retired electrical engineer, died Friday, October 7, at the University of Tennessee Medical Center in Knoxville, Tennessee. A native of Helena (Phillips County, AR), he was born Jan. 27, 1925, to Richard and Velma Jenkins Newby. He attended public schools in England (Lonoke County, AR), played in the England High School band and was graduated with honors in 1942. As a Boy Scout, he earned the Eagle rank in 1942 with 40 merit badges. Shortly after the attack on Pearl Harbor, he entered the U.S. Navy and served as electrician’s mate aboard the U.S.S. Almaack during three Philippine invasions and Iwo Jima. Mr. Newby was discharged from the Navy in 1946 and earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Electrical Engineering from the University of Arkansas in 1950. On Sept. 15, 1951, Mr. Newby wed Betty Lavon Kennerly of El Dorado, Arkansas and began six years as senior district engineer for Arkansas Power & Light Co., designing substations and powerlines for such institutions as the new Little Rock Air Force Base at Jacksonville, AR. He later served as senior plant electrical engineer for Reynolds Metals Hurricane Creek plant at Bauxite, AR, retiring in 1983 after a 28-year tenure with the company. He was a member of the National Professional Engineering Society and Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers. A 63-year member of Temple Baptist Church in Little Rock, Arkansas, he served more than 50 years as a deacon, 25 years as a Sunday School teacher and 35 years in Temple’s church choir. Richard and Betty moved to Knoxville, Tennessee in 2005 and in 2007 they joined West Haven Baptist Church. Mr. and Mrs. Newby had two children, Phillip Newby of Grafton, WI and Regina Newby Dean of Knoxville, TN[R1] . Other survivors include daughter-in-law Lois L. Newby of Grafton; son-in-law Jerry Dean of Knoxville; grandchildren Rick Newby and Alaina Newby Revak of Benton, AR; Megan Dean of Jefferson City, TN and Amanda Dean of Washington, D.C. and five great-grandchildren. Funeral services will be 1:30 p.m. Monday, October 10 at Griffin-Leggett Forest Hills Funeral Home, 10200 AR-5, Alexander, AR followed by burial at Pinecrest Memorial Park, 7401 AR-5, Alexander, AR. Family visitation at 12:30 at the funeral home. [R1]