SENIOR SALUTE

Sally Newcomer

Sally Newcomer is someone you should know.

Born in Topeka on March 19, 1938, Sally was the second daughter blessed to George and Ursula Mack who lived in Marysville, Kansas. She was also welcomed into the family by her sister, Nancy. Sally grew up in Marysville until the middle of third grade when the family moved to Topeka. She finished grade school there and graduated from Topeka High School in 1956. Her dad was the political reporter for the Topeka Daily Capital. Her education continued when, as a freshman, she attended Colorado College in Colorado Springs. While there, she worked in the dorm cafeteria where she managed to accidently spill coffee on the Dean of Women! This must have been an early sign that Sally was destined to live a life of adventure, leaving her mark on everyone she encountered!

Sally transferred to Kansas University where she majored in secondary education. During the summer months, she worked for the engineer who designed the Kansas Turnpike. She apparently left a very good impression on this man, because he encouraged his son, Graham, to ask her out. Graham played basketball and baseball at Kansas State, and was a die-hard Kansas State loyalist. Sally was a devout Jay Hawk fan. Needless to say they had some ‘intense’ conversations about their favorite sports teams, but as it is said...opposites attract. Graham and Sally were married in September of 1960 soon after she graduated from KU, Graham had Majored in Finance and took a job in his hometown of Eldorado as a banker. They had 4 children, Jeff, Andrea, Kyle, and Troy. After 2 or 3 other moves, they ended up in Guyman, Oklahoma. Sally’s first teaching job was in the border town of Texoma. Half the town was in Texas, and half in Oklahoma. Sally had to get a Texas teaching license because she worked on the Texas side. Every week-day she drove 20 miles west of her home in Guyman to teach Kindergarten and Junior High Special Education. In the summer months, Sally took classes at Northwestern Oklahoma State University to earn a Master’s Degree in Special Education.

Sally and Graham moved to Council Grove, Kansas, in 1978. By this time, her children were out of the house with careers of their own. Sally began teaching special education in Council Grove’s elementary school (K through 5th grade). In 1988, she and Graham traveled to Israel where they were symbolically rebaptized in the Jordan River. Sadly, in 1989, Sally lost the love of her life to prostate cancer. Sally was heart-broken. As she prayed for comfort, Sally reconnected with a high school friend, Sharon Rosenwala, who had become a full-time missionary in Guatemala. As Sharon shared her stories of the children in Guatemala, and Sally recounted her life since high school for Sharon, a thought came to her mind. Maybe God wanted her to help in some way in Guatemala. But what could she do when she didn’t speak the language?

God did indeed have a plan for Sally! She flew to Guatemala City where she taught 3 special ed children of missionary parents at a school in a suburb of Guatemala City.

The place where her friend Sharon worked was located in Salquil way up in the mountains of northern Guatemala. In this newly established school called Light and Life School, children were taught how to read their native heart language of Achile. In 3rd grade, the children were taught in Spanish. Sally became good friends with the first grade teacher, Xhun, (pronounced ShUn, meaning John in Achile). She and Xhun still keep in touch to this very day. Sally also observed procedures in the classrooms. She then spoke with the Indian faculty through Sharon. Sally shared ways to improve the learning environment. She revisited this school 7 different times and was pleased to see that her methods were still being used! She counts this experience as one of the most satisfying of her professional career. She said she wants students studying education to know that being a teacher is not just all about imparting information- it also involves skills in behavioral management, because if you cannot keep decorum in a classroom of children, then no meaningful learning will take place. She advises paying attention to the classes that show effective methods to maintain control. They will definitely be needed. Sally has traveled for pleasure and humanitarian purposes all over the world. One of her first trips was to visit the Grand Canyon. She and son Troy hiked 6 miles down and 6 miles up! Some of her most interesting trips have been to Ecuador where she went on a cruise on the Amazon River and fished for baby crocodiles (known as ‘caimans’, a local lean meat source high in protein); Ghana, where the group she traveled with studied hippos; Kenya, to study zebras; Germany; and Switzerland (where she visited the town of her mother’s family’s origin); and to Alaska where she took a side trip to the North Pole and put one toe in the North Sea, as others in her group waded in. She came home from Kenya covered in a painful, itching rash that resembled measles. Labs tests revealed the source and treatment with a special salve was prescribed. Mercifully, she recovered before the school year began! In three trips to India, Sally served at a home operated by Christian missionaries for orphaned children whose families had been killed for their Christian faith. During the day, the children attended a nearby Christian day school. The orphanage taught various trade skills to the children so that at age 18 the kids could get gainful employment. Another unique feature of this school was that it also gave instruction to Indian women who had been rejected by their husbands (a too common practice in India) and tossed out onto the streets without possessions, money, or skills. The school instructed these women in ways to help out in the school...even as teachers..., and provided a home with regular meals. Without this incredible opportunity, most of these women would have no choice but to live a life of prostitution, abject poverty, and early death. Sally was invited to share her life story (again through an interpreter) with many Indian women across southern India who never knew the freedoms extended to American women (which we take for granted) like education, the ability to own and drive a car, and the ability to handle money in the management of the home. They were especially interested in how single or widowed women could care for themselves. Working at the home and school gave these women great hope and a purpose. Sally appreciated Brother Simeon, head administrator of the orphanage who dedicated his life to this work.

After retiring from teaching, Sally answered phones at the Morris County Hospital, worked with Care and Share for over ten years, and taught children Bible lessons through her church’s AWANA Program.