Ned Newman

Ned Newman-was born Jan 13 1920 of Ford Newman and Ida Adcock. A family of six brothers and one sister in a small farming community of Grapeland Texas is where he called home

At the age of fourteen he left home and moved to the big city of Palestine Texas and found work as day labor for about one dollar a day. Times were hard and employment was difficult to find since the country was recovering from “The Great Depression”. He was fortunate to acquire a job working a gasoline station where his schedule was from seven pm to seven am every day. He worked this job until opportunity knocked and he was offered a job with an oil company driving a ten wheel tanker. The money wasn’t much better but he worked generally during the day and was able to travel to many of the surrounding communities and even as far as Houston Texas. He spoke of this job often and how much he enjoyed being on the road, but as most things this too came to an end. Fortunately his brothers Fordy and Glen were working the oil fields and managed to get him hired on to the gang. Here is where the boys were working the day the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor. Shortly thereafter all of the Newman brothers, except for Sam who was a polio survivor, joined the military. Ned always said” On Dec 7, 1941 the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor. On Dec 7, 1942 I was standing on the shores of North Africa”

He was an enlisted man in the Signal Corps eventually earning his corporal stripes. After participating in the actions that eventually defeated the Nazis in Africa, the Company he was attached to was relocated to Messina Italy, where our forces fought all the way to the fatherland, Nazi Germany. He spoke of setting telephone poles and stringing wire establishing communications to the front only to be ordered to tear it all down due to “The Battle of the Bulge”. When speaking of the end and burial with him he made a few references on the subject of cremation. He said “I’ve seen that done enough in my life and I don’t want it done to me”. I think he was remembering the concentration camps that he had witnessed in Germany.

All the brothers survived the war and came back home to Texas. On February 1, 1946 Ned and Bernadine were wed and began a life together that would span fifty years. Ned went back to farming for a couple of seasons then they both decided to move to Houston Texas. They took a small apartment near Yale and Collingsworth and while they were there they had a beautiful baby girl who they named Joy Lynn. Ned went to work for the Houston Bus Service working split shifts, nights weekends which did not support a happy home life. Just so happened Ned was pulled over by a Houston Police Officer for a traffic violation. Evidently the employment conversation was ongoing between Ned and Bernadine when she commented to Ned, “Why don’t you get a job like his where you can work regular hours”. Weeks later Ned broke the news to Bernadine that he had successfully acquired employment with the Houston Police Department. There are no records indicating that his work schedule improved.

On July 16, 1951, Ned joined the Police Academy Class #7, where he began a lifetime of law enforcement. Ned worked as a uniformed patrol officer for several years, and worked security jobs at many locations around town such as the Farmers Market, and The Coliseum. Here he met many unknown performers such as George Jones, William Nelson and Elvis Presley.

Fortune smiled for he was eventually asked to move into Juvenile Division leaving his patrol officer uniform behind. It turns out that detective work must have been his calling for this assignment eventually led to his transfer to Homicide December 16, 1959. Although his work schedule was taxing, Ned found time to build a home out on the northern outskirts of Houston near the crossroads of two black top roads called Tidwell and Fulton, 174 Annette Ln. Here the roots grew, and lifelong friends were made, Harold and Dorothy Miller, Raymond and Ann Collum, Lonnie and Benelle Long, J F and Melva Herrin Lawrence and Ruth Recane and too many more to list. All of the children in the neighborhood grew up together and on May 24, 1954, another addition to the family arrived, a son, Don Paul.

Ned became a member of the Houston Police Officers Association early in his career and served as Post Surgeon for several years. At the same time he was an active member of The Veterans of Foreign Wars, Local 6010, where he served in many positions including post commander. Bernadine was a member of the V.F.W. Ladies Auxiliary during the same periods serving again many positions including president. Of the accomplishments of this post was to create one of the first chapters of “The Sons of Veterans”

In the mid seventies Ned became acquainted with Edward Kent, who was a pastor and business man. Ed was breaking ground on an apartment project on the north side of Houston and offered Ned a wonderful opportunity. The two enjoyed a great friendship that transcended Ed’s life, and Ned continued the servitude for about fifty years, working with Caroline Kent until the apartments were sold in the mid 2000s.

On February 3, 1976, Ned retired from the Houston Police Department and moved to Elkhart Texas, where he went to work for The Texas Department of Corrections. While he worked here he and Bernadine built a ranch working cattle and horses. After many years of country living, the two decided to move back to the city close to the children and now grand children.

On March 1, 1977, Ned returned to law enforcement by going to work for the Harris County Domestic Relations Office working for Nancy Westerfield, Chief Administrative Officer. He was appointed to status of Deputy Constable from his old friend, Walter Rankin. While in this assignment, Ned was back in his chosen field of investigation and through this office and with the support of Mrs. Westerfield he was able to again be an advocate of those who could not protect themselves. Ned served in this position until the mid 1980s, when he finally hung up his guns for good. Well almost.

In the late eighties Ned and Bernadine decided to move out of the city, so after long hours of driving and searching the two agreed on settling in the Metropolis of Porter Texas. Together the two of them built their own retirement home in the country. All the while Ned is driving in to Houston to oversee Mrs. Kent's rental properties. While working on their place Ned was asked to run for the Porter Water Board, and as luck would have it, he won. He served in that position until Jan 30, 2013, and although he did not police with his pistols on his hip (as if that mattered to him) he did it with a pen and a vote. He was an advocate for the customers in the Porter Water District, and he kept a clinched hand on the pocket book.

In Early 1999 it was discovered that the love of his life had terminal cancer. She passed quietly in their home September 11, 1999. He wept.

April 29, 2013 8:59 Am, Ned Newman finally finished his work here on earth, and went to stand in the presence of God….for his next assignment.

“You don’t pull on superman’s cape

You don’t spit into the wind

You don’t pull the mask off the old lone ranger

And you don’t mess around with him”