Herbert Judson Newton

  General Notes:

The SSDI records:
Herbert J. Newton
Last Residence: 23464 Virginia Beach, Virginia Beach City, VA
Born: 18 May 1915
Died: 11 Feb 2010
State (Year) SSN issued: Virginia (1960)


The following was shared by nceagley at ancestry trees:
High school sweethearts mark 70 years of beautiful music
Herbert J. Newton pulled a regular disappearing act at Maury High School in the 1930's. he would sign in on the blackboard every morning and write "orchestra" beside his name, then leave, not to practice his instrument, but to make a little music with his girlfriend, Iva Pritchard. Her starting point was the opposite end of the building, and the pair would meet in the hallways somewhere between. "We had an unusual arrangement," Herb said. "She'd leave her homeroom, and we'd walk around together."
For some reason, teachers turned a blind eye to the pair, who had become acquainted in the school science club.
Herb remembers Iva as a "stunning-looking, brunettish with hazel eyes, kind of outgoing, kind of quiet." On their first date, Herb and Iva bobbed for apples at a Halloween party at the historic Francis Land House, then a private residence. Herb was costumed in tails, top hat and spats. Iva wore Virginia Tech clothing borrowed from one of her brothers.
" Her mother wouldn't let her go unless we took her sister, Farie, with us," Herb recalled. There was no smooching. "That happened years later," he said.
Herb's thoughts were on the violin in those days. Born into a family of musicians, he began "borrowing" his sister's instrument at the age of 5. He was good enough to play with the Norfolk Symphony Orchestra after high school. Meanwhile, Iva studied art at Averett University in Danville.
During the Great Depression, Herb shoveled coal, had a paper route, worked for a refrigerator company and sold insurance.
"Marriage had not entered my mind," Herb said. When it did, he and Iva were on the sand at Ocean Park in Virginia Beach. Iva was lying on a towel; Herb was looming above. "I want you to marry me, and I'm going to give you 15 minutes to make up your mind," Herb Said.
Iva took the full count before agreeing. A few weeks later, on May 11, 1938, Herb and Iva became man and wife in the home of P. Roland Wagner, pastor of Central Baptist Church in Norfolk.
After the birth of their first child, Tom, Herb surprised Iva by bringing her and the new baby home to their very own house, which herb had purchased from his father. It was located on Campostella Road in Norfolk and was not too far from Iva's parents, who still lived in the house where Iva was born in Newton Park, on land coincidentally once owned by Herb's grandfather, a farmer.
Herb discovered a knack for piano tuning after buying an instrument that no one could harmonize to his satisfaction. He became so skilled at this profession that he was sent back home after reporting for the draft. The Navy wanted him to remain available to the 5^th Naval District, where he once tuned 14 pianos in a single day at the Navy School of Music.
Herb opened his first Newton Piano Co., in a shop and showroom he built adjacent to his house. Herb was able to devote himself to the retail business because he had stopped playing the violin after the death of his oldest sister, Mildred Gaston and her son, Joseph, in an automobile accident. Both had been accomplished musicians, and Herb and Mildred, a pianist, used to perform duets on a weekly radio program. "I lost heart," Herb said. It was many years before Herb picked up his bow again.
Herb owned as many as three piano stores in various Hampton Roads locations, but now he's down to one again, on Virginia Beach Boulevard in Virginia Beach. Today the Newton sons, Tom and Joseph, run the business, but Herb, 93, hasn't retired. "I still go to my office almost every day," he said.
Herb and Iva, 92, also have a daughter, Carole, who lives in Smithfield.
Herb and Iva planned a quiet 70^th anniversary. "She doesn't want any hullabaloo," Herb said. Iva has been recovering from a fall. Herb's secret to a happy marriage: "Never go to bed angry. If we have any quarrel we settle it."

Herbert married Iva Pritchard, daughter of Joseph Albert Pritchard and Sophia Love Burnham, on 11 May 1938 in Norfolk City, VA. (Iva Pritchard was born on 10 Feb 1916 in Norfolk City, Virginia, died on 16 Jul 2009 in Norfolk City, VA and was buried in Riverside Cemetery, Norfolk City, VA.)