At Newton’s grand farewell last November….
Coach Newton on stage at York for the farewell event held in November, 2016. Hundreds of students and residents attended the celebration in the Joe Newton Fieldhouse.
Internationally known cross-country and track-and-field coach touched thousands of lives
By Mike Miazga
Correspondent
Retired York High School coaching legend Joe Newton died early Saturday, Dec. 9 at his home in Goodyear, Ariz. Newton was 88 years old.
Newton’s son, Thomas, posted the following message on Facebook page regarding his father’s death.
At Newton’s grand farewell last November….
Coach Newton on stage at York for the farewell event held in November, 2016. Hundreds of students and residents attended the celebration in the Joe Newton Fieldhouse.
“Good Afternoon all,
“I just wanted to take a moment to let you all know that today is a sad day for not only myself and the Newton family but also the Elmhurst running community with the past and present men of the York cross-country program. This morning at 4 a.m., Arizona time, my father, Joseph R. Newton III, passed away.
“Additionally, I would ask the community and runners of the York cross-country program as well as friends to please respect the wishes of our family. My father was very much a family man first. The family wishes are to keep the funeral private and for the family. However, we will be having a memorial at a later time in early to mid-January.
“My hope is to have the memorial at York and I am working with the district now to that end. When I get details, I will forward them to this site as well as the Mr. Newton Celebration sight on Facebook as well as the Y82 reunion website.
“To those of you who called earlier today, I did not want to let anyone know the condition of my father. However, too many people had been made aware of my dad’s passing. I did want to gather as much information as I could before saying something, but as the day progressed, I could not let this go any further without saying something. So I am doing this now without a lot of detail in the hopes that we will not be overwhelmed with phone calls.
However, if you need to speak to someone in the family feel free to … email me at [email protected] I will make every attempt to get back to you as soon as possible.
“Please at this difficult time give our family time to heal and prepare for a celebration of life that I know my father deserves so that we all can reflect on the impact that he has had on all of our lives. Thank you all.”
Newton led the York boys cross-country team to a record 28 state championships and 44 total state trophies (12 second-place titles and 4 third-place titles). He also led the 2000 York boys track and field team to a state title.
Newton, a member of the National Federation of High Schools National High School Hall of Fame, was a teacher or coach at York for six decades. He took over the boys cross-country program at the school in 1960.
Newton’s cross-country and track and field teams won more than 2,050 dual meets (98 percent winning). He coached more than 300 all-state athletes and directed 20 of his teams to national cross-country titles.
Newton coached the York boys team full-time through the 2015 season. He was co-head coach with current York coach Charlie Kern Sr. in 2016 before retiring. A celebration of Newton’s career at York was held last fall at the school.
The Independent will have a story on Newton’s career, life and the impact he made on many student-athletes in next week’s edition.
