Joan Newell

Joan Dorris Newell, age 95, of Hingham, MA, and Wolfeboro, NH, died on Monday, December 30, 2019, due to complications from pneumonia.  She lived for many years in Hingham Centre and was a resident of the Linden Ponds Retirement Community for the past four years.

Born in 1924 in Jersey City, NJ, Joan was the daughter of Charles Lester Dorris and Natalie Liebenau Dorris.  She spent most of her childhood in Oklahoma and attended Tulsa public schools.  She received her undergraduate degree and her law degree from the University of Arkansas.  She moved to Hingham with her parents in 1948 and worked in Boston for several years.  She met her future husband Malcolm “Mac” Newell while commuting on the train.  They married in 1952, lived in Boston briefly, and then moved to Mac’s family home in Hingham.

Joan was very active in the community.  She served on the Hingham Advisory Committee, was a member of the Republican Town Committee, was chief warden of the polls for Town elections for 20 years, and was a member of the Needlepoint Guild at the Episcopal Parish of St. John the Evangelist.  She considered the Hingham Public Library to be her second home and served for 34 years on the Board of Trustees.  She also was the coordinator of the Library volunteers for 13 years.  Joan loved books, crossword puzzles, knitting, needlepoint, and a good political discussion!

A longtime summer resident of Wolfeboro, NH, Joan spent many happy days with her family on Lake Winnipesaukee.  She took up golf in middle age and was a member of the Kingswood Golf Club.  She also was a member of All Saints’ Episcopal Church in Wolfeboro.

Joan was predeceased by her husband Mac and is survived by daughter Lucy Newell Hancock and son-in-law Arthur “Skip” Hancock of Hingham, grandson Charlie and his spouse Austin of Montgomery, VT, and grandson William and his spouse Cori of Dover, NH.

A memorial service will be conducted on Saturday, January 25, at 1:00 PM at the Church of St. John the Evangelist, 172 Main Street, Hingham.  The interment is to be private.

Visiting hours and flowers are omitted by request.  In lieu of flowers, donations may be made in Joan’s memory to the Hingham Public Library, Attn: Memorial Gifts, 66 Leavitt Street, Hingham, MA  02043, the Wolfeboro Public Library, 259 South Main Street, Wolfeboro, NH  03894, or the NVNA and Hospice Charitable Fund, 120 Longwater Drive, Norwell, MA  02061.

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