wfn.org | William K. Newman, first UCC Pension Boards exec, dies

[Worldwide Faith News <wfn@wfn.org>]

Dec. 9, 1998
Office of Communication
United Church of Christ
The Rev. Arthur Lawrence Cribbs Jr., press contact
(216) 736-2222
<cribbsa@ucc.org>
On the Web: <http://www.ucc.org>

William K. Newman, first executive
of United Church of Christ Pension Boards, dies

     CLEVELAND -- William Kincaid Newman, executive
vice president of The Pension Boards of the United Church of
Christ from 1958 until 1975, died Dec. 2, 1998, in Newtown, Pa. 
Newman was 88.
     Asked to develop a common retirement plan for two
denominations when the Evangelical and Reformed Church
merged with the Congregational Christian Churches in 1957 to
form the United Church of Christ, Newman brought them into a
single system, now known as The Pension Boards.
     "One of the denominations was conservative and the other
more aggressive in its investments," said the Rev. Park Dickerson,
pastor of the First Congregational Church, United Church of
Christ, in Montclair, N.J.  "That led to two very different
retirement plans.  The two church cultures had to be melded into a
common financial arrangement."
     Newman was a member of First Congregational for 13
years.  "He was treasurer when I came here," Dickerson said. 
"He was a very strong supporter of the church and ran our
financial campaign.  He had a strong sense of his concern for our
church."
     "In serving as the current executive, I certainly recognize
the legacy that he has left," says Joan F. Brannick, executive vice
president of the Pension Boards.  "The standard that
he set with regard to the fiscal soundness and service to all
individuals is one that we have tried to continue.  He will be long
remembered for his work and ministry."
     For more than 20 years, Newman helped to shape
financing for church buildings throughout the United States.  He
also advised church financial programs in Japan, Greece and The
Philippines.  He was the first non-architect to be elected to the
Church Architects Guild of America.
     In addition, Newman was a champion for civil rights and
equal employment opportunities.  He helped organize a strategy
meeting with the organizers of Brown v. Board of Education of
Topeka, Kan.  One of those attending was future Supreme Court
Justice Thurgood Marshall, the National Association for the
Advancement of Colored People's  attorney, who led the
successful arguments before the U.S. Supreme Court in 1954 that
decided segregated public education was unconstitutional.
     According to Newman's son, James, "The hard part [in
organizing the strategy meeting] was finding a place that would
accept an integrated group."  The meeting was held in the late
1940s in the basement of a New York City hotel.
     Newman's interest in civil rights and his commitment to
integration led him to use his leverage as a denominational
executive to encourage corporations to hire women and people of
color in the workplace.  "When somebody like that calls up the
chairman of the board of directors, they listen," James Newman
said about his father.
     A graduate of Germantown Academy in Fort Washington,
Pa., Newman received an A.B. degree from Princeton (N.J.)
University, cum laude, in 1931.  He then earned a J.D. degree
from the University of Pennsylvania.  Later in his life, her received
an honorary doctorate from UCC-related Rocky Mountain
College in Billings, Mont., for his work as a denominational
executive for the Congregational Church.
     During World War II, Newman served as a Navy
lieutenant but, according to his family and friends, he preferred to
seek peaceful solutions.  "He was respected for his ability to
resolve
conflicts with concern for all views,"  Dickerson said.  "His
capacity to solve problems, to find a common ground, was
extraordinary."
     He is survived by his wife of 58 years, Cathelia Pollock
Newman; his children James, Katherine, and Harley; four
grandchildren and a great-grandson.
     A memorial service will be held at Pennswood Village,
Newtown, Pa., on Saturday, Dec. 12, 1998, at 11:00 a.m.  In lieu
of flowers, donations may be sent to Princeton University, "In
Memoriam," P.O. Box 46, Princeton, NJ 08544; or to the United
Church Board for Ministerial Assistance, 475 Riverside Dr., New
York, NY 10115.
     The United Church of Christ, with national offices in
Cleveland, has 1.4 million members and more than 6,000 local
churches in the United States and Puerto Rico.

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