Farewell to Helen Newton, the definition of an authentic Sandpoint ‘local’

By Zach Hagadone
Reader Staff

One of Sandpoint’s truest champions passed away on April 25 — Helen Newton, aged 83, left us but she won’t be forgotten for her wit, humor and diligent intelligence, all of which she marshalled over the decades to serve her community.

Helen Carol Method Newton was born Nov. 22, 1941 in Maywood, Calif., though spent her life in Bonner County — attending local schools and graduating from Sandpoint High School in 1959. 

She then went on to the University of Idaho for two years, where she joined the Pi Beta Phi sorority.

She married Skip Newton in Sandpoint in 1961, by whom she’s survived along with daughters Laurie (Ted) Kunkel of Latah, Wash., and Pam (Paul) Rugloski of Harrison, Idaho; grandsons Jordan (Tashara) Kunkel, Matt Fogg and Zachary Kunkel; granddaughter Zoe Fogg; great-grandchildren Kaitlin, Rowan, Callum, Kaden, Kaitlyn, Bethany and Lincoln; and younger brother Cal (Mary Ann) Method, of Kennewick, Wash.

Helen Newton. File photo

Helen was a hard worker, being employed from 1959-1969 by Bud Moon at the Moon Funeral Home. Later, from 1969-1979, she worked for local dentist Gerald Madsen, Dr. Jim Arthurs, and Les and Pat Rogers at M&J Market. Following that, she worked for Cooke, Lamanna, Smith and Cogswell from 1979-1981.

Helen entered public service in 1981, when then-Mayor Sally Cupan appointed her as Sandpoint city clerk. She served in that office until retiring in 2005. She didn’t stay away from City Hall for long, though, winning a seat on the City Council from 2006-2010.

Helen was a friend of one of my aunts since they were in school together, and Helen often shared with me her memories of hanging out at my grandparents’ house when she was a kid, but it was during her time with the city that I really got to know her best.

The first iteration of the Reader launched in late December 2004 and, of course, Helen started getting a lot of calls from me starting soon thereafter. Helen was the kind of public official reporters most love working with — quick to respond to questions or requests for information, up front with communication and easy to quote. It helped that she was really funny, with a sly wit that could and did carry a sting at times.

Often, when I called on a story, she’d get just as committed to sharing the inner workings of local government — and keeping it honest — as I, and maybe even more so. 

Helen brought all that energy and keen eye for detail to the council, where she suffered no fools and brooked no puffery, boosterism, doubletalk or other such nonsense. She was a pleasure to cover and, while I’m sure I personally disagreed with a couple of her decisions, that hardly mattered then or now. 

I am positive that she never made a statement or vote that she didn’t think hard about and truly thought was in the absolute best interest of this town that she loved so much. When I’ve thought about a true, authentic “local,” Helen has always sprung immediately to mind.

Though she left office in 2010, I was profoundly grateful when I returned to the Reader in 2019 and found that she was still engaged with keeping the city government honest as a commenter at council meetings, frequent letter-to-the-editor writer and occasional provider of full-blown op-eds. Back before COVID-19, when everyone had to attend City Hall meetings in person, I was always happy to see Helen sitting in the audience — usually knitting something while she shook her head at whatever someone on the dais said that she obviously didn’t agree with.

Her opinions were never idle, and she always came with receipts. She also liked to talk, which I took advantage of many times. I used to call her whenever I couldn’t wrap my head around some aspect of city government, or needed a deeper perspective on why some code was written the way it was, or just to vent about whatever was annoying me about a city politics story.

She always answered and would stay on the line for however long we both felt like talking, the pair of us editorializing in ways I won’t repeat.

None of this is intended to paint Helen as some hard-nosed politico — she could be, but she was mostly as warm, compassionate and giving a person as anyone is lucky to meet. She belonged to the Sandpoint United Methodist Church dating back to 1955; was a five-term president of P.E.O. International, Chapter V; and served on the Bonner General Hospital Board, Pend Oreille Hospital District, Sandpoint Centennial Commission and was a 2018 Woman of Wisdom honoree.

Helen was also a well known, talented quilter and enjoyed playing bridge and organizing reunions for the SHS classes that graduated in the ’50s.

I’m glad I never delete old emails, because I had the pleasure the other day of searching for Helen’s name and rereading some of our back-and-forths over the years. One of them from January 2023 and addressed to Publisher Ben Olson and me hit particularly hard when I revisited it:

“Thank you, thank you, both for the insight, the balance, the accurate reporting and more that you give to our community — a community whose landscape, by the way, I find more difficult every day to recognize and every week I realize I also recognize fewer and fewer names and faces. Nobody told me this would be part of the aging process. C’est la vie.”

I’ll find Sandpoint more difficult to recognize without Helen in it, and will dearly miss seeing her name in my email inbox and in these pages.

There will be a celebration of Helen Newton’s life at 10 a.m., Saturday, May 17 at Sandpoint United Methodist Church (711 Main St.). Memorial donations may be made to the Sandpoint United Methodist Church; Bonner County Museum (611 S. Ella Ave., in Sandpoint); or the Senior Center (820 Main St.).