Kevin’s sister, Rhonda Newsham-Hagerman, class of '70, submitted this information about Kevin Newsham.

Kevin was born on 11/06/53. He was an adorable, nearly 10 lb. baby, walked and  talked early and as a toddler and little boy he was fascinated with: bugs of all kinds, astronomy, rocks, marbles, skate boarding, riding his bike and all the normal things boys do. It was apparent, early on in school, that Kevin was very intelligent. Too smart, really, for his own good. He was so bored all the way through the 12th grade that he often challenged his teachers, was a loner with only about 3 friends, needed to be challenged much more than public school could offer, would not turn in assignments, failed tests/classes just because he refused to go along with what he thought to be useless nonsense. He was VERY quiet and fiercely private right up until the end of his life. He would only stay in contact with me and his best friend, Richard.

Without a word, at 18 Kevin showed up at the house we grew up in, car loaded with boxes, packed up his room and left. He never spoke to anyone of his Pomona friends or our parents or family again.

He married briefly and they had a baby named Joshua Scott Newsham. Married too young, a baby too fast and the marriage was doomed from the start.

He met a great girl in San Diego and had another son, David Newsham with her, but wouldn’t marry her, so after giving him an ultimatum, she took David as a baby back to NY where she was from and had family who could help her as a single mother.

Kevin 's dream was to retire from the union on his 55th birthday and just enjoy the beach and San Diego that he loved so much. He died just 7 weeks before his birthday and never got to enjoy his hard-earned pension or the beach or San Diego.

Kevin could be very generous, loving, said some beautiful compliments to me as his "big sister" and very funny. He had a dry sense of humor and could make you laugh until you cried. He was meticulously clean about his home, himself and his babies in the early years. He loved to go over our yearbooks with me, old family pics and memorabilia until sometimes 4:00 a.m. in the morning. We laughed, cried and talked about everything until we were exhausted and had to go to sleep.

He was near genius (I.Q. 140+), a darling baby and little boy, fully bilingual in Spanish & English by the time he was 15 and it was recommended to our parents by his PHS counselors that he start Cal Poly, Pomona while finishing high school, he struggled through all odds (a full heart valve replacement at only 35 and a massive stroke the following year, from which he had to be completely rehabilitated) and STILL managed to pass his tests with flying colors to become a journeyman electrician, he LOVED being an electrician and designing the systems for 20+ story buildings! Electricity is a very dangerous job and he watched more than one co-worker drop dead right beside him while on the job. Kevin saw "Kevin vs. Electricity" as a challenge and with his intelligence level, he needed to be challenged constantly.....idle time proved to be disaster for him.