Elnora Newton

Elnora “Nora” Newton, 94, passed away peacefully on November 22, 2018 in Independence, Missouri. A memorial visitation will be held from 2:30 p.m. to 4:30 p.m., Friday, November 30, at Speaks Suburban Chapel, 39th Street at M-291 Hwy, Independence, MO. Burial will be in Mt. Olivet Cemetery, Raytown, MO at 11 a.m. on Saturday, December 1. An open house luncheon will follow the burial at the home of her daughter and son-in-law in Raytown, MO.
Nora was born September 4, 1924, in Kansas City, MO, the daughter of Jim and Rose Fiorella. She graduated in 1941 from Central High School and worked as a seamstress in the Garment District sewing military uniforms. She later was hired as a cartographic technician with the U.S. Army Map Service making military maps. U.S. Army Map Service changed to the Defense Mapping Agency Aerospace Center where Nora retired in 1982 after 31 years.
Nora was a long-time member of Nativity of Mary Catholic Church in Independence, MO. She had many hobbies which she enjoyed with her husband, Clayton. They enjoyed traveling to historic sites, camping with the Muddy Mo Minglers, flower and vegetable gardening, quilting, and rug hooking. Nora was a voracious reader. She was a regular at the Kansas City Public Library on 23rd Street in Independence and could read six or seven books in a week. As a result of Nora’s reading and travels, she did not need a college degree to learn U.S. and world history among other topics. She was also a talented knitter, cook, and baker. She knitted several winter hats and scarfs for all of her immediate family as well as nieces and nephews. Nora was famous for her weekly spaghetti dinners for the entire family and hosting Christmas dinners of lasagna and Italian sausage. Over the years, she baked thousands of Italian cookies for Christmas in which she would give to family and friends.
Nora is preceded in death by her parents, Jim and Rose Fiorella, an infant daughter, Rosalie Butkovich, her husband, Clayton A. Newton, her son, David B. Newton, and her brother, Sam James. She is survived by her daughter and son-in-law, Josephine Newton-Lund and Richard Lund, Raytown, MO; her grandchildren, Gunnar Newton Lund, Cambridge, MA, and Victoria Ruth Lund, New York, NY, and her sister, Marie J. Baggett, Independence, MO. She also leaves several nieces and nephews.
The family wishes to thank the staff of the Villages of Jackson Creek Memory Care and Kindred Hospice for the loving care Nora received during the final year of her life.