Joseph Edwin Newbury

Joseph Edwin Newbury, known to many as Joe, passed away on May 21, 2026, at Mount Carmel Hospital in Colville, Washington. He was 86 years old. 

Joe was born on February 9, 1940, in Chewelah, Washington, to Bryan Arthur Newbury and Christine Ann Newbury. Chewelah was his first home and, after a life that took him across the world, it became his home again. He remained deeply connected to the town, the surrounding hills, the lakes, and the independent life he built there.

Joe studied education at Eastern Washington where he graduated in 1963 and then began his career as an elementary school teacher in Auburn, Washington. He also served honorably in the Army National Guard of Washington, where he reached the rank of Sergeant E-5 in the Signal Corps.

His teaching career soon took him overseas with DoDDS, the Department of Defense Dependents Schools. Joe spent many years teaching and leading schools in Germany and Turkey. He lived and worked in places including Böblingen, Turkey, Nufringen, Regensburg, Mannheim, and the Heidelberg area. In 1983, he became a principal, first serving in Mannheim and then spending much of the rest of his DoDDS career in the Heidelberg area.

During those years in Europe, Joe also became a husband and father. He raised two sons, Karsten and Stefan, and gave them a childhood full of movement, freedom, and adventure and above all excellent educations. He loved skiing and often took his sons on ski trips, especially while the family lived in Regensburg, Germany, not far from the Austrian border. Brixen im Thale in the Austrian Alps became a regular family ski destination. Joe was an excellent skier, and skiing was also how he met Merve, the mother of his sons in Austria through the Heidelberg Ski Club.

Joe was a quiet man, but never a dull one. He was independent, practical, kind, and always in motion. He did not like sitting still. He was always puttering around, fixing something, improving something, reading something, or planning the next thing. After retiring from DoDDS in 1995, he returned to Chewelah, the place he loved and always considered home. There he bought and built his home, added a shop, and made many improvements with his own hands.

Joe loved cars. Over the course of his life, he owned more than 100 vehicles. Cars were never just transportation to him; they were toys, projects, tools, and a source of real enjoyment. His sons remember always having cars when they were young, along with free gas and the freedom that came with it. Even near the end of his life, Joe still found joy in vehicles. After a radiation treatment in May 2026, he had his friend Mike take him to Spokane so he could trade in his Ford Maverick for another Maverick with upgraded options. He never got to drive it, but he enjoyed buying it. That was Joe.

He also loved fishing with friends on his pontoon boat, huckleberry picking, Gonzaga basketball, reading the news, following politics, and sharing jokes and funny emails with

friends and family. He could be quiet, but he could also be passionate, especially when he cared about something. He was gentle and kind, and his sons were fortunate to know him as a loving father who would never hurt anyone.

Joe’s final illness began with a bladder cancer diagnosis in late 2024. Treatment stabilized the cancer for a time, and he remained active until the disease later spread to his brain in 2026. He spent the last month of his life at Mount Carmel Hospital in Colville.

Joe is survived by his two sons, Karsten Newbury and Holger Stefan Newbury; his daughter-in-law Anja Newbury; his two grandchildren, Nicholas and Ava; his sister Monna; and many friends and extended family members. He was preceded in death by his parents, Bryan Arthur and Christine Ann Newbury, and his brother Don Newbury.

Joe will be remembered as a teacher, principal, father, brother, friend, skier, fisherman, car lover, news reader, joke sharer, and restless tinkerer. He lived widely, came home deliberately, and left behind a family grateful for his kindness, independence, humor, and love.

Joe’s life will be remembered at a memorial gathering in Chewelah with close family and friends on July 16th. In lieu of flowers, please consider making a donation to a charity of your choice.