Eleanor M. Newton

Eleanor M. Newton Eleanor M. Newton, 94, passed away on April 1st in El Paso, Texas surrounded by her loving daughters. Eleanor (nicknamed Timmie) was born in Manitowoc, Wisconsin, March 5th 1923 as the eldest daughter of Frank and Martha Mrotek. She entered St Joseph’s School of Nursing, Chicago, Ill. and was a Military Cadet Nurse while attending school from 1942-1945. She joined The American Red Cross and traveled to Minneapolis, Minnesota to work with polio patients and returned to Chicago completing a semester at DePaul University. She moved to California and worked at the LA county and VA Hospitals. Eleanor also worked as a private duty nurse for a short time in Santa Monica, California. In 1949, she joined the Air Force, where she was assigned to Edwards AFB in 1950. She reported to her first command without any orientation to the military and loved to tell tales of her experiences about learning who to salute and what uniforms to wear. She informed her commanding officer that she wanted to be a flight nurse and was told they didn’t send newly assigned nurses to training. However, within 6 months, Eleanor was sent to The Gunter School of Aviation Medicine at Maxwell AFB, Alabama, for Flight Nurses Training. She was transferred to the Air Evac squadron, Brooklyn, AFB, Alabama. She flew numerous Air Evac missions within the US, Caribbean and Korea. In 1952 she married the love of her life, Major James H. Newton, an Air Force pilot. She had two children and followed him around the World until he retired in 1972. She was a Nursing supervisor in Oklahoma and a Girl Scout camp nurse in Washington, State. She was a race track nurse in Ruidoso, New Mexico after her husband retired. They owned and ran Mountain Air cabins in Ruidoso for several years. They settled permanently in El Paso, Texas where she was a School Nurse and Red Cross volunteer at Beaumont Army Hospital until she was 82. Eleanor was a champion bowler until she was 85. She loved to travel, visiting places in the USA, China and Europe. She was an original founder of the military widows group in El Paso and charter member of the Korean War Veterans Chapter of El Paso. She was active in the Society of Air Force Nurses (SAFN) for many years and enjoyed attending the conferences were she would get to visit with old friends and meet new ones. She is survived by her daughters, Jean and Jamie, her 5 grandchildren, Jennifer, Jessica, James, Jillian and Justin, and 5 great-grandchildren. Visitation will be from 5:00pm to 9:00pm with a Vigil/Rosary at 7:00pm on Tuesday, April 11, 2017 at Sunset Funeral Home Northeast. Funeral Mass will be said at 10:00am on Wednesday, April 12, 2017 at Blessed Sacrament Catholic Church. Committal Service will follow at Fort Bliss National Cemetery with Military Honors. Services entrusted to Sunset Funeral Home Northeast. Please visit our online register book at www.sunsetfuneralhomes.net