Joseph Richard Newman

Joseph Richard Newman was born on February 18, 1942, in Salt Lake City, Utah, to Joseph Hyrum Newman and Dora Eggett Newman. He passed away on February 18, 2026, his 84th birthday, in Palm Bay, Florida.

Richard grew up the third of six children on 19th East in Salt Lake City. His father was a returned missionary who had served in Germany in the 1930s. His mother was a farmer’s daughter with pioneer roots. Together they taught their children that family came first. That lesson stayed with him.

He was a lifelong member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. In May 1961, he was called to serve in the Central German Mission, the same country his father had served in and his grandfather had emigrated from. He served for two and a half years and released on November 4, 1963. Throughout his life he served in numerous church callings, including Young Men’s President, High Priest Group Leader, and Sunday School President.

Richard joined the Utah Air National Guard as a high school senior. He graduated on a Friday and reported for duty on Saturday. He served from 1960 to 1966 in roles ranging from payroll to radar operations, guiding fighter jets from Hill Air Force Base to proving grounds in the Nevada desert.

Richard earned a Bachelor of Arts in German from the University of Utah in 1967, a Master of Science in Computer Science from the University of Utah in 1971, and a Ph.D. in Computer Science from the University of Southwestern Louisiana. He got hooked on computers in his senior year of electrical engineering. There was no undergraduate degree in computer science anywhere in the country at the time. He was, as he put it, “one of the pioneers of computing.”

While earning his master’s at the University of Utah, Richard was part of the team that connected the university to ARPANET, one of the first nodes of what would become the internet. He later brought internet connectivity to Florida Institute of Technology and helped found the Florida Lambda Rail, a high-speed fiber optic network connecting Florida’s research universities.

On September 9, 1965, he married Madeleine Mary Newman in the LDS Temple. They met at a church hayride. They built a life together that spanned more than 60 years, four sons, seven grandchildren, and more moves than most families make in a lifetime. Through it all, they were each other’s constant.

Their son Todd was born premature in Nebraska and lived three days. Richard carried that loss for the rest of his life.

His academic career took the family across the country and overseas. He taught at the University of Southwestern Louisiana, the University of Nebraska, and Southern Illinois University. He directed computing at the Illinois Educational Consortium and chaired the department at Sangamon State University. He was one of the founders of the National Student Programming Contest, serving as chief judge of the first national competition. The contest grew, attracted IBM sponsorship, and eventually went international.

In the early 1980s, Madeleine spotted a newspaper ad for a teaching position in Europe. She asked if he was qualified. He said sure. They packed up their four boys and moved to Germany. One year turned into five.

In 1988, Richard and Madeleine settled in Palm Bay, Florida, where he joined Florida Institute of Technology. Over the next two decades he served as Department Head of Computer Science, Associate Dean and Interim Dean of the College of Engineering, and Associate Vice President of Information Technology. He kept trying to retire. They kept pulling him back. He finally said enough and retired as Professor Emeritus of Computer Science.

Richard served as National President of Upsilon Pi Epsilon, the National Computer Science Honor Society.

Away from the classroom, Richard was an outdoorsman. He grew up hunting and fishing in the mountains outside Salt Lake City with his best friend Leroy, who lived two houses down and remained his closest friend for life. They joined the National Guard together, got married the same month, and joked for the rest of their lives that September was the wrong time because it was deer season. He was an Eagle Scout and a Scoutmaster. He was a marksman who enjoyed time at the range and a father who passed his knowledge on willingly.

To his four sons he was a mentor and a steady hand. To his seven grandchildren, he was PaPa.

His parents taught him that everything they did was for each other, and when they had the family, everything they did was for the family. He tried to live that way.

He is survived by his wife Madeleine Mary Newman of Palm Bay, Florida; his sons Chad, Troy, Andrew, and Derek; seven grandchildren: Austin, Averie, Megan, Madylin, Dominic, Zachary, and Miles; his siblings Dianne Hardman, Sandy Newman, Jay Newman, and Gary Newman; and numerous nieces and nephews. He was preceded in death by his parents, his son Todd, and his sister Cherrie Newman Dyer.

A viewing will be held on Saturday, February 28, 2026, at 1:00pm, followed by a funeral service at 1:30pm at The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 1065 Emerson Drive NE, Palm Bay, Florida. A viewing will be held on Friday, March 6, 2026, from 1:30pm to 2:30pm, followed by a Graveside Dedication at 2:30pm at Wasatch Lawn Memorial Park, 3401 South Highland Drive, Millcreek, Utah.