Richard Newton

Richard John Newton, age 81, passed away peacefully at home, surrounded by family, on Sunday, November 29th, 2020, after a long illness.

Richard was born on September 29th, 1939 in Mead, Colorado. He was the seventeenth born in a family of twenty siblings and the third born within a set of triplets, preceded in birth by brothers, Roland and Ronald. The three Newton brothers were the first set of all-male triplets born in the state of Colorado. Richard was preceded in death by parents Laura Dreier and James Elmer Newton, and by brothers Orbin Newton, Raymond Newton, Jack Newton, Thomas Newton, Gerald Newton, Dave Newton, Roland Newton and Forrest Newton, and by sisters Eunice Newton Thornton, Roberta Newton Curran, Rosemary Newton, Maureen Newton, and Kathleen Newton Hetterle. He is survived by brothers Ronald Newton and Marcus Newton, and by sisters Helen Newton Teter and Patricia Newton French.

Like all of his siblings, Richard was educated in Mead's school system, graduating in 1957. Along with his two triplet brothers and brothers, Gerald and David, the Newtons were the starting five on the 1956 high school basketball team, and in 1957, David and the triplets were on Mead's State Championship team, finishing with a record of 26 wins and 1 loss. The four brothers were picked by the Denver newspapers as members of the All-State Team. In 2011, the 1956-57 Mead High School Team was inducted into the Colorado High School Activities Hall of Fame.

Richard met and married his college sweetheart, Phyllis Senatore, when both were students at Colorado State College (now University of Northern Colorado). While attending UNC, Richard was a member of the Tau Kappa Epsilon fraternity. Upon his graduation, he taught history and coached basketball at Harrison High School in Colorado Springs until 1967.

After the birth of his first two sons, Rick and Tim, Richard attended the Aetna Life and Casualty Bond School and worked in the Denver office until 1975.  In 1976, Richard and Phyllis moved to Florence, Colorado to continue in Phyllis' family's retail business, "Senatore's." During those years in Florence, a third son, Matthew, was born, and shortly afterward the family moved back to Denver to expand the family business. All locations were in the Denver area: Marina Square, Writer's Square and the Cherry Creek Mall.

Richard is survived by his wife, Phyllis Senatore Newton; his three sons, Rick, Tim and Matt Newton (Allie); his grandchildren, Joe, Jamison, Mike, Brady and Carson Newton, all of whom currently reside in the Denver Metro area; and many nieces, nephews and cousins across the country.

Richard's wish is to send any contributions to the Newton Family Scholarship Fund. Please send to: UNIVERSITY OF NORTHERN COLORADO, "The Laura Dreier and James Elmer Newton Scholarship Fund," The UNC Foundation, Judy Farr Center, 1620 Reservoir Rd, Greeley, CO, 80631.

Due to the current COVID-19 restrictions, final resting services will be held later this summer.