Rash's Surname Index
Notes for Newton E. PARSONS
Philadelphia Inquirer, The (PA) — Sunday, July 1, 1990
NEWTON PARSONS, LONGTIME GARDENER
Newton E. Parsons, 85, a retired gardener at Longwood Gardens and an accomplished semipro baseball player in the 1920s and 1930s, died Tuesday at the Tel Hai Retirement Community in Honey Brook, where he had spent the last two years.
Born in Huntingdon County, Mr. Parsons moved to Kennett Square at age 10 and lived in the borough most of his life.
He began playing baseball in his youth. In 1927, at the age of 22, he earned a spot as a pitcher on the Longwood Baseball Team in a local semipro league, which also landed him a job at Longwood Gardens.
Although his family could not recall how successful a stint he had with the team, Mr. Parsons was apparently good enough to stay on through the 1930s and keep his job as a gardener at Longwood.
"It was during the Depression, and he really wanted that job," said his daughter, Ramona Waltz. "He loved baseball."
Mr. Parsons worked at Longwood for 42 years before retiring in 1969. At that time, the company gave him a dinner and plaque honoring his services. He later worked part time at Longwood in the security department.
An added bonus for him came six years later, when in 1975 he was inducted into the Old-Timers Baseball Hall of Fame in Kennett Square.
Baseball and gardening were not Mr. Parsons' only talents. He was a longtime member of the Hamorton United Methodist Church in Kennett Square, where he was a member of the choir. He possessed a fine tenor voice and often sang solos in the choir, in addition to singing at weddings.
He also enjoyed reading poetry and was an accomplished poet himself. His poems were reflections of nature and its beauty, and he also wrote about his family and the surrounding community. He was published several times over the years in local papers in the Kennett Square area, and also in the Tel Hai community paper.
Mr. Parsons was a member of the Kennett Lodge 475 F&AM, the Kennett Area Senior Center, and a former member of the Longwood Fire Company.
He was an ardent Phillies fan.
He and his wife, Ruth Loller Parsons, would have celebrated their 63d wedding anniversary in August.
In addition to his wife and daughter, he is survived by another daughter, Joanne Barker; a brother; a sister; five grandchildren, and six great- grandchildren.
A funeral was to be held Friday in the Kuzo & Gofus Funeral Home, Kennett Square. Burial was to be in Longwood Cemetery, Kennett Square.
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