Office Hours: Monday – Friday, 9:00 AM – 5:00 PM
Calls outside of office hours? No worries! Our team will respond within 10–15 minutes.
Services
Friends may visit with the family on Sunday, October 25, 2015 from 12 Noon – 3 PM at the Vander May Wayne Colonial Funeral Home, 567 Ratzer Road, Wayne. A 3 PM funeral service will be held at the conclusion of the visiting hours at the funeral home.
Burial will take place 11 AM (please meet directly at the cemetery) on Monday, October 26, 2015 at the Rockland Cemetery, 201 Kings Highway, Sparkill, NY 10976.
Clayton C. Newell, age 95 of Green Pond, formerly of Paramus, passed Thursday, October 22, 2015 with the comfort of his family by his side.
He was born in Oil City, Pennsylvania and was one of eleven children that grew up in a four room home that initially had no electricity. Clayton had to leave high school and find work to help support the family. The family also received a great deal of family assistance from the Oil City Salvation Army and Clayton was in touch and grateful to them, for the rest of his life. He eventually returned to Oil City High School and graduated with the Class of 1941; he was the first and only of the eleven children to graduate high school.
In May of 1942, Clayton joined the United States Navy. He attained the rank of Radioman Second Class and received the Good Conduct Medal, the American Theatre Ribbon, and the World War II Victory Medal. During his service Clayton became an expert at Morse Code and could decipher US, Japanese and German code communications. Upon his honorable discharge in February of 1946 he was asked to take an oath of secrecy regarding his naval assignments. Just recently his family asked him to relay stories of his service and he refused to enlighten them, referencing this oath. On occasion Clayton would break into speaking dots and dashes at the kitchen table.
After his discharge from the US Navy Clayton bought a home in Valley Cottage, New York for his mother and some of his siblings. There were railroad tracks running through the front yard. Kathryn Green rode the Red & Tan bus line to school at Paine Hall in New York City. The bus driver was a man named Harry Newell, Clayton’s brother. He set Clayton and Kathryn up on a blind date. Kathryn, being the cautious type wouldn’t go anywhere with him, so they simply went back to her house in Closter and talked. Their first official date was a trip to a bar where all Kathryn ordered was a soda. Clayton stated, “I can afford her, she only drinks coke!” They began dating and Clayton eventually rented an apartment in Fair Lawn, NJ as it was much easier to visit Kathryn in Closter. Kathryn agreed to marry Clayton as long as she didn’t have to live in the house with a railroad track in the front yard. They married on June 23, 1956 and honeymooned in the Poconos. After they married they had a home built in Paramus where they lived from 1956 through 1981. They spent summers in Green Pond, staying in Kathryn's parents' house on Shadyside Lane. Then in 1972 they were surprised with a gift from Kathryn's father of a second home in Green Pond, NJ, just down the road from where Kathryn had grown up spending her summers. It was nothing glamorous, but they enjoyed every minute they spent there together. “Well you could see the outside from inside and I’m not talking about looking out the windows,” Kathryn will tell you. They eventually built a new home on the site in 1983 and have lived there ever since. Clayton and Kathryn were truly inseparable and fixtures of Green Pond where they raised their children and grandchildren.
Clayton’s first job was riding a bicycle up and down the large, steep hills of Oil City, PA where he would hand deliver wire telegrams. He also worked as a grocery store clerk, printer, car salesman, and set up furniture at hotels and motels for the Fisher-Cohen Company in Newark. He finally became a Mail Carrier for the US Post office in Paramus, as well as a Carrier for Puralator Delivery Services. He worked for the US Postal Service for over twenty years before retiring in January of 1985.
Clayton enjoyed woodworking, building crafts, and sitting on the swing in the front yard striking up conversations with people as they passed by. He enjoyed watching the lake for hours on end and cracking a joke in every appropriate and often inappropriate moment. He was fun and unpredictable. In the middle of a conversation he would break into random songs, jingles, and Morse Code…you just never knew what was going to come out of his mouth. He had many standby jokes like: “If we both ate a can of beans how old would we be? I’d be farty and you’d be farty-two,” or “I stayed up all night waiting for the sun to rise – then it dawned on me.” With his light-hearted humor Clayton was sincerely trying to make others comfortable around him and in this regard he was truly a success. His warm-hearted nature made everyone feel comfortable and curious to what he was going to say next.
Clayton was predeceased by his 10 brothers and sisters, Jenny Walls, William Newell, David Newell, Alonzo Newell, John Newell, Orpha Orr, Elmer Newell, Chester Newell, Harry Newell, and Mildred Green and his son-in-law William MacQuesten. Clayton is survived by his loving wife, Kathryn Newell (nee Green) of 59 years, his son; Scott Newell and wife Doreen, two daughters; Donna MacQuesten, and Deborah Knorr and husband Garret, and his 9 grandchildren; John, Heather, Mark, David, Tanya, Brandon, Tyler, Nicole, and Nathan.
In lieu of flowers, memorial donations to the Oil City Salvation Army, PO Box 282, Oil City, PA 16301 or the Green Pond Volunteer First Aid Squad, PO Box 251, Newfoundland, NJ 07435 would be appreciated.
If you would like to send a private condolence directly to the family use this condolence section.
Friends may visit with the family on Sunday, October 25, 2015 from 12 Noon – 3 PM at the Vander May Wayne Colonial Funeral Home, 567 Ratzer Road, Wayne. A 3 PM funeral service will be held at the conclusion of the visiting hours at the funeral home.
Burial will take place 11 AM (please meet directly at the cemetery) on Monday, October 26, 2015 at the Rockland Cemetery, 201 Kings Highway, Sparkill, NY 10976.
Services
Friends may visit with the family on Sunday, October 25, 2015 from 12 Noon – 3 PM at the Vander May Wayne Colonial Funeral Home, 567 Ratzer Road, Wayne. A 3 PM funeral service will be held at the conclusion of the visiting hours at the funeral home.
Burial will take place 11 AM (please meet directly at the cemetery) on Monday, October 26, 2015 at the Rockland Cemetery, 201 Kings Highway, Sparkill, NY 10976.
Clayton C. Newell, age 95 of Green Pond, formerly of Paramus, passed Thursday, October 22, 2015 with the comfort of his family by his side.
He was born in Oil City, Pennsylvania and was one of eleven children that grew up in a four room home that initially had no electricity. Clayton had to leave high school and find work to help support the family. The family also received a great deal of family assistance from the Oil City Salvation Army and Clayton was in touch and grateful to them, for the rest of his life. He eventually returned to Oil City High School and graduated with the Class of 1941; he was the first and only of the eleven children to graduate high school.
In May of 1942, Clayton joined the United States Navy. He attained the rank of Radioman Second Class and received the Good Conduct Medal, the American Theatre Ribbon, and the World War II Victory Medal. During his service Clayton became an expert at Morse Code and could decipher US, Japanese and German code communications. Upon his honorable discharge in February of 1946 he was asked to take an oath of secrecy regarding his naval assignments. Just recently his family asked him to relay stories of his service and he refused to enlighten them, referencing this oath. On occasion Clayton would break into speaking dots and dashes at the kitchen table.
After his discharge from the US Navy Clayton bought a home in Valley Cottage, New York for his mother and some of his siblings. There were railroad tracks running through the front yard. Kathryn Green rode the Red & Tan bus line to school at Paine Hall in New York City. The bus driver was a man named Harry Newell, Clayton’s brother. He set Clayton and Kathryn up on a blind date. Kathryn, being the cautious type wouldn’t go anywhere with him, so they simply went back to her house in Closter and talked. Their first official date was a trip to a bar where all Kathryn ordered was a soda. Clayton stated, “I can afford her, she only drinks coke!” They began dating and Clayton eventually rented an apartment in Fair Lawn, NJ as it was much easier to visit Kathryn in Closter. Kathryn agreed to marry Clayton as long as she didn’t have to live in the house with a railroad track in the front yard. They married on June 23, 1956 and honeymooned in the Poconos. After they married they had a home built in Paramus where they lived from 1956 through 1981. They spent summers in Green Pond, staying in Kathryn's parents' house on Shadyside Lane. Then in 1972 they were surprised with a gift from Kathryn's father of a second home in Green Pond, NJ, just down the road from where Kathryn had grown up spending her summers. It was nothing glamorous, but they enjoyed every minute they spent there together. “Well you could see the outside from inside and I’m not talking about looking out the windows,” Kathryn will tell you. They eventually built a new home on the site in 1983 and have lived there ever since. Clayton and Kathryn were truly inseparable and fixtures of Green Pond where they raised their children and grandchildren.
Clayton’s first job was riding a bicycle up and down the large, steep hills of Oil City, PA where he would hand deliver wire telegrams. He also worked as a grocery store clerk, printer, car salesman, and set up furniture at hotels and motels for the Fisher-Cohen Company in Newark. He finally became a Mail Carrier for the US Post office in Paramus, as well as a Carrier for Puralator Delivery Services. He worked for the US Postal Service for over twenty years before retiring in January of 1985.
Clayton enjoyed woodworking, building crafts, and sitting on the swing in the front yard striking up conversations with people as they passed by. He enjoyed watching the lake for hours on end and cracking a joke in every appropriate and often inappropriate moment. He was fun and unpredictable. In the middle of a conversation he would break into random songs, jingles, and Morse Code…you just never knew what was going to come out of his mouth. He had many standby jokes like: “If we both ate a can of beans how old would we be? I’d be farty and you’d be farty-two,” or “I stayed up all night waiting for the sun to rise – then it dawned on me.” With his light-hearted humor Clayton was sincerely trying to make others comfortable around him and in this regard he was truly a success. His warm-hearted nature made everyone feel comfortable and curious to what he was going to say next.
Clayton was predeceased by his 10 brothers and sisters, Jenny Walls, William Newell, David Newell, Alonzo Newell, John Newell, Orpha Orr, Elmer Newell, Chester Newell, Harry Newell, and Mildred Green and his son-in-law William MacQuesten. Clayton is survived by his loving wife, Kathryn Newell (nee Green) of 59 years, his son; Scott Newell and wife Doreen, two daughters; Donna MacQuesten, and Deborah Knorr and husband Garret, and his 9 grandchildren; John, Heather, Mark, David, Tanya, Brandon, Tyler, Nicole, and Nathan.
In lieu of flowers, memorial donations to the Oil City Salvation Army, PO Box 282, Oil City, PA 16301 or the Green Pond Volunteer First Aid Squad, PO Box 251, Newfoundland, NJ 07435 would be appreciated.
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