Wanda Wallace Newman

Wanda Louise Wallace Newman was born in El Campo, Texas, her mother’s territory, the fifth beloved daughter of Gertrude Boon Schubeck Wallace and Samuel William Wallace, Jr. of Greenville, Illinois. It was during WWII, during which Sam Wallace worked on the Manhattan Project in Oak Ridge, Tennessee.

The family moved to Virginia when Wanda was three. A gifted child, she was reading and had mastered basic math by that time. She never got below an A in school, but her interests had to do with friends and family, music and dancing. Wanda also excelled in athletics. After graduating from Virginia Beach High School in 1960, she entered college at the University of Colorado, Boulder. She left school in 1962 to marry Gerald Robbins (Jerry) Newman of Cleveland, Oklahoma. They had three children and settled in southeast Denver. She was a devoted mother, strong in her dedication to her children’s well-being, happiness and ethical rootedness. Wanda was active in the PTA, where she held several offices; she was a Den Mother for the Boy Scouts; and she worked with the Republican Party. After twenty years her marriage dissolved. She had recently begun working full time, but she was able to return to college and get a degree from the University of Colorado, Denver.

In the early 1980s Wanda met Roy Pritts, Professor and Dean of the College of Music at CU-Denver, who guided her towards music technology, a field in which she excelled. They embarked on twenty-three-year loving relationship/collaboration of music-making, creative projects—e.g., the audio to accompany the Millennium space show at the Denver Observatory—and family sharing. They were both members of the global Audio Engineering Society and traveled to all the most beautiful cities in Europe, Scandinavia and Russia, as well as major US cities, to explore audio innovations. Wanda lost Roy to a heart attack on June 20, 2007.

Wanda continued her work with the ARCS (Achievement Rewards for College Scientists) Foundation, accepting offices and completing major projects. A lifelong Republican, Wanda served for more than four decades in various capacities including as a precinct committeeman, state committeeman, and national delegate, and worked on countless city, state and national Republican campaigns and the Colorado State Presidential Nominating Conventions. She was also active with the ABWA (American Business Women’s Association) for many years and served in various leadership capacities there. She sang in the CU Alumni choir and was active with the group. She also sang in the choir of The Denver First Church of the Nazarene.

Wanda was best known for her selflessness, kindness, and for helping people in large and small ways and expecting nothing in return. Active to the end, she succumbed to cancer on Monday, December 6, 2021.

She is survived by her sons, Gerald Robbins Newman, Jr. (Carol Kornelsen Newman) and Samuel Wallace Newman (Yvette Sharp Newman), both of Denver, and her daughter, Christine Newman Jones (Lt Col Gary Dean Jones) of Phoenix, Arizona; grandchildren, Jacob Samuel Newman and Rachael Angele Newman; sisters Cynthia Wallace Corboy, Rowena Wallace Gray and Adriane Ann Wallace. Her sister, Josephine Christine Vaughan pre-deceased her in 1998. She also leaves many cherished nieces and nephews, as well as grand-nieces and nephews.

In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations to the Colorado chapter of the ARCS Foundation: https://arcsfoundationdc.ejoinme.org/MyPages/DonationPage/tabid/733486/Default.aspx

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