Carlton P. Newman of Barrington donated books and playground equipment to a school in Africa and had a big heart and a big laugh, family and friends said.
“He was a warm, hospitable man, very much focused on people,” said Rev. Glenn Loafmann, pastor of Community Church of Barrington.
Mr. Newman, 76, a retired product-development manager for a business forms company, died of complications from lung cancer Monday, April 22, in his home.
Mr. Newman was born and raised in Amarillo, Texas, and served in the merchant marine during World War II in the Pacific.
After the war he worked in the Computer Department of the National Advisory Committee of Aeronautics in Danville, Calif., the agency that preceded the National Aeronautics and Space Administration. Afterward, he worked with early computers at Friden Calculator Co. in San Leandro, Calif.
From 1968 until his retirement in 1993, Mr. Newman was product development manager at UARCO Inc., a business forms printer.
A year after his retirement, while traveling through Kenya with his wife, Virginia, Mr. Newman came upon a school.
“After meeting the headmistress, touring the school and taking notice of its one blackboard and few books, he decided to help out,” said his son Chris.
Over the years, Mr. Newman returned to the school with books for “Newman’s Nook,” a library in the school. He also helped buy playground equipment and other supplies.
Mr. Newman was a member of Community Church of Barrington for more than 30 years. He served on its board of trustees and on “practically every committee we’ve ever had,” Loafmann said. In the 1990s, Mr. Newman helped a Korean congregation that had been meeting at the church find a space of its own.
“He was also very attentive to the younger generations and aware of their activities,” Loafmann said. “If the senior high school group was working on a project, he made sure everyone else in the congregation took notice.”
Other survivors include ason, Ted; a brother, William; and three grandchildren.
Services have been held.
