John O. Newell Jr.

JOHN O. NEWELL, Jr. 1931-2019

John O. Newell, Jr. died on November 10, 2019.  He was the son of John O. Newell and Mary Emerson Keith Newell and was born on December 26, 1931 in Glen Ridge, NJ. He grew up in Upper Montclair, NJ and New York City and spent summers at the family’s house in Colebrook, CT. He was educated at the Buckley School, Phillips Academy, Columbia College and Cornell University.

While at Columbia College, he met his future wife, Barbara Hoblitzelle, who was a student at Barnard College.  They were married in July of 1955. He enlisted in the United States Army in 1954, where he served in the field artillery and was stationed in Geissen, Germany following training at Fort Dix and Fort Sill. After his discharge from the Army in 1957, he completed his undergraduate studies and graduated from Columbia College in 1958.  He then earned an M.B.A. in Finance, Accounting and Administration from Cornell University’s Johnson Graduate School of Management in 1960. In 1970 he completed the post graduate program conducted by the American Bankers Association Stonier Graduate School of Banking. 

He joined Hartford National Bank and Trust Company in 1960, which was the fourth oldest bank in the country, where he served in a variety of executive positions. During his career, he was involved in the building of Hartford National’s new head office in 1963, the designing of Hartford National’s first computerized commercial loan system, and the creation of Hartford National’s debit card.

He and his late wife shared a love of collecting and building 1 inch to 1 foot miniatures to furnish the rooms John built for their collection.  They also had an intense interest in family genealogy, and were members of many genealogical societies and enjoyed doing research in places ranging from Charleston, SC to Boston, MA.

He lived with his family in West Hartford, CT from 1960 until 2016, when he moved to Brooklyn, CT. His wife Barbara died in 2013. He is survived by their two children, John O. Newell IV (married to Cornelia S.W. Newell) of Weston, MA, and Pamela N. Gaumond (married to Robert L. Gaumond) of Pomfret Center, CT. He is also survived by four grandchildren, William C. Newell (married to Angela Chang Newell), Alex B. Newell (engaged to Audrey H. Shaughnessey), Benjamin S. Zern (married to Nicole A. Zern), and Jennifer B. Zern (married to Seavor Skinner) and four great grandchildren, Jackson B. Zern, Noah S. Zern, Emmit W. Skinner and Selena B. Skinner.

Memorial services will be held at the convenience of the family.  In lieu of flowers, memorial donations may be made to the donor’s charity of choice.

Funeral arrangements have been entrusted to the care of the Shaw-Majercik Funeral Home, 48 School Street Webster.  A guest book is available at www.shaw-majercik.com where you may post a condolence or light a candle of remembrance.

To send flowers to the family or plant a tree in memory of John O. Newell Jr., please visit our floral store.