Harry William Newlon

It is with great love, respect and sadness that the family of Harry William Newlon announce his death on February 26, 2023 due to complications of pneumonia and a long life well lived. They want to acknowledge and express their sincere thanks and appreciation to all of the staff at Community Medical Center in Missoula, Montana for their genuinely kind and thoughtful care of Harry and his family during his final days on this earth. You are an incredibly hard working and caring medical team, and the Newlon family are blessed and grateful to have been given your talented skills and nurturing supportive care during a difficult time. May God bless you all. Harry's beginnings really started with a hard working family with a sense of adventure from the farms of Indiana, Ohio and Kansas. He was born on beautiful Catalina Island, California on June 14, 1931 (Flag Day; which he always loved) where his father taught high school and his family lived until Harry was three. However, it is his memories of going back to his great grandparent's and grandparent's farms in the midwest as a child and young adult that taught him about the value of family working, playing and praying together, and the importance of serving and valuing the community in which he lived. With his dad in the Navy during World War II, he grew up in California, New York and Indiana, but it was always his Great Grandpa and Great Grandma Hoover's farm in Ohio and his Grandpa and Grandma Boyd's farm near Garfield, Kansas that served as anchor points for family roots and a sense of self. He so valued that time growing up in rural America with his younger brother Dennis and his little sister Sharon; so many valuable memories to him that he often shared. It is his experience of growing up in various places and working hard on the farm that helped to make him the fun yet demanding, kind and encouraging visionary leader that he became as a man. Following graduation from San Diego State University with fun as member of the Delta Sigma Phi Fraternity and earning a degree in finance, he began his banking career in Los Angeles and Phoenix. With his valuable Montana experiences as a young child with his Uncle Ronald, Aunt Gladys and fun-loving cousin Geraldine, it was the place he always wanted to be. His dream job finally came through in 1963 at the age of 32 when he moved from Phoenix, Arizona and started working for Western Montana National Bank (now US Bank System) in Missoula, Montana. He served there as Vice President of Commercial Lending and Marketing for 12 years, as well as Director of the Montana Chamber of Commerce, and Director of the Helena branch of the Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis. In 1975, he became the President, Chairman of the Board and Chief Executive Officer of First National Bank in Bozeman where he served for 13 years. He was actively involved with various organizations that revolved around supporting the agricultural community, as well as remaining engaged with the Federal Reserve on the national level. He even had the chance to take Paul Volcker, Chairman of the Federal Reserve, fly fishing in Montana. Always game for more adventure, Harry and his wife Nancy, moved to Artesia, New Mexico where he served as President, Chairman of the Board and Chief Executive Officer of First American Bank of Artesia for 13 years. It was a very special final job in a great close-knit community, as he followed in the footsteps of a mentor Mr. Charles Johnson--a man who valued the concept of helping people because he believed in them as individuals rather than their material net worth. It was a vision Harry believed in throughout his banking career, and tried to live up to during his final years as a banker for the community of Artesia. He loved working with people, and through his generous (and yes, admittedly, sometimes controlling) spirit, he always wanted to be there to help, guide, and nurture where he could. He truly valued helping others to succeed and fulfill their aspirations. Harry and Nancy truly enjoyed their twenty-two years of retirement together. They traveled the world that encompassed trips in various degrees of adventure, danger, fun and mishaps from many drives across the states, a paddleboat tour on the Ohio River, houseboat trips and waterskiing on Lake Powell, and extensive trips to Hawaii, Alaska, Canada, Thailand, China, Peru, Egypt, Turkey, Italy, Greece and the tame and wild areas of South Africa. Their last long distance trip together was to Kauai, Hawaii and how special it was for them to walk on Puu Poa Beach near Hanalei Bay in a place they loved; hand in hand. It is often said, if you can travel with someone and enjoy it, then you know you've found your match. Harry and Nancy made an awesome team and a great match, and we all benefited from their love of life together, generosity and kindness. When they weren't on the road exploring new territory, they enjoyed their winter home in the Saddlebrook Community in northern Tucson where they played golf, relaxed in their pool, enjoyed wonderful and jovial companionship and meals together with friends and family, and embraced the incredible vistas, tranquility and spirit of Arizona. In the summer, they migrated back north to their cherished, rustic and simple cabin in the Andaconda Pintar mountains along the East Fork of the Bitterroot River near Sula, Montana (aka "The Cabin"). It was a cabin in every since of the word: three small rooms, a shower with very limited hot water, and of course, an outhouse. In all its simplicity, it provided everything one needed: a place for adventure, yet peaceful; a place where you felt you were the only person on earth with incredible nighttime stars above, yet surrounded by the love of family; a place full of memories, yet knowing there would always be new journeys ahead for everyone; a place to share. A home in every sense of the word. An avid outdoorsman from a young age that began with walking along the beaches on Catalina Island and collecting shells to carrying in the milk pail from the barn on his grandparent's farm at age 2, Harry spent many of his summers growing up in the Hamilton area of Montana with family. He learned to fish at the age of 3 and perfected his technique over the years with his last cast at the age of 90 on the East Fork of the Bitterroot River at one of his favorite places to fish. . . just below the cabin. And yes, of course, it was a BIG fish! Really!!. . . . and. . . he was kind enough to let it go. He loved teaching people how to fly fish, so he not only passed on his fly fishing expertise to his son Michael and daughter MaryBeth and son-in-law Warren, but to nephews (Alton, Chris, Kevin, Joel), great nephews (Ben and Jobey) and many friends along the way. It was his thinking time, his relaxing time, his love of nature time; his time to rest and recharge; his time to reflect and be thankful. Many, many fun and memorable stories came from all those days fishing on the streams of Montana and the rivers in Alaska and Canada. It was in those places where he felt close to God and counted his blessings. Harry also enjoyed hunting small game and the wild and entertaining adventures that took him all across the country with family and great friends. Thankfully, he survived them all. It is these experiences and relationships formed over his time in the great outdoors that were the essence of those last conversations and days of his life. Thank you to everyone who helped make those memories possible for they made his end of life so wonderful and meaningful as he reflected and talked about those times during his final days. Harry is survived by his wife Nancy, his sister Sharon, his cousin Geraldine, his son Michael and daughter MaryBeth, and many relatives and friends who are family in the best sense of the word. We all loved him for who he was, how he lived life, and the manner in which he gave to others until the very end. On his final day, he so enjoyed all of the loving calls from everyone, and while he could not talk, he heard every word and smiled in every way possible with his face lined with the love he experienced in life. It meant the world to him to realize what an impact he made on so many. They call the present, today, a gift, and on his last day, all of you gave him the best gift. . . your love. In his final hours, he expressed his wish to go on to the next journey; he was ready. While painful to acknowledge, it helped those of us with him at the end a sense of peace. Know that his final hours were joyful, peaceful; full of so many wonderful memories that included all of you. In a final toast to this life on earth and all that his family and friends gave him, he enjoyed a few sips of his favorite Apple Jack Crown Royal whiskey. The hospital Chaplain Judith was a Godsend that night, and she gave Harry the sacred blessing on his journey home that he so valued and wanted; he was so present with her words and song until the end. We are all grateful there is another Guardian Angel up there in Heaven looking out for all of us, with a little bit of wild to blend with the mild, and remind us all to seize the day. Each day comes once in a lifetime--value it. The family of Harry Newlon would so value a favorite photograph you may have of Harry in your time with him. One's life encompasses so many experiences with many people and places. It is a chance to combine all of those times into a special photographic journey that paints the complete picture of the man, and not just those times his family knew with him. Please email his daughter MaryBeth Austin at wandmb@gmail. com with any contributions you may have. She will put together a memorial tribute to share with everyone. God Bless you all.