Marjorie Newell

Marjorie (Cowles) Newell, 100, of Southington, passed away peacefully on Thursday, August 9, 2018 at The Summit at Plantsville, on the same corner lot where she lived as a girl. The wife of the late Sydney K. Newell, they were married there, in her parents' home, on September 7, 1935.

Born in Waterbury on August 30, 1917 to the late C.A. and Mae (Griffin) Cowles, Marge had been a lifelong Southington resident. She shared many memories from her early years with family members. As a child, she loved to go to her grandmother Cowles's house and listen to her opera and classical music records on the Victorola . She especially remembered riding down West St. when it was a dirt road, with her older cousin, Ned Blewitt, at the wheel of his own car...very exciting for a young girl! According to her granddaughter, Kelly, Syd proposed to her on the original Lake Compounce roller coaster. She often told about being at the Eastern States Exposition in Springfield, MA, when the 1938 hurricane struck. She and Syd drove back on Rt. 10 and it took 12 hours to get home, as they had to stop and work with others to clear fallen trees out of the road. Very early on, Marge worked in her father's feed mill office and later with Syd in his vending machine business. She loved antiques and had her own shop in Plantsville for several years. Those of us who are left will always remember her smile and infectious laugh, her voice which had an interesting timbre, and her love of shopping trips with lunch at the Connecticut Room or the Birdcage. She was a good listener and always had time for her grandchildren, great-grandchildren, nieces and nephews. She was an excellent cook, seamstress, and decorator, but never made a big fuss about her talents.

Marge is survived by her daughter, M.K. Newell Moon of Taos, New Mexico, granddaughter Kelly Bryant Miller and husband Robert of Greenville, South Carolina, grandson Chad Bryant of Key West, Florida, greatgrandsons Nolan Miller of Chapel Hill, North Carolina, and Benjamin Miller and John Ross Miller of Greenville, South Carolina. She also leaves behind nieces, Christina Sorensen Duffy and husband Christopher of Waldoboro, Maine, Lee Cowles Beckwith and husband David of Plantsville, and Colette Cowles and husband, Ken of Waterbury and nephews Scott Cowles and wife Janet of North Carolina, Carl Cowles and wife Sherry of Bristol and Joseph Cowles Markley of Plantsville, as well as their families. She also leaves behind a cousin, Elaine Cowles Doolittle of Cheshire. She was predeceased by her sister, Priscilla Cowles Markley, her brother, William Jerome Cowles and nephew William "Billy" Cowles.

In lieu of flowers, donations may be made in Marge's memory to Alzheimer's research, the Humane Society or The Southington Historical Society.

A memorial service will be held at 11:00 a.m. on Thursday, August 16, 2018 at the Plantsville Memorial Funeral Home, 975 S. Main St., Plantsville. Burial will be held privately in Wonx Spring Cemetary on Marion Ave., Plantsville. For online condolences and directions, please visit www.plantsvillefuneralhome.com