Barbara Berardino Newman
Uniontown
Barbara “BeBo” Berardino Newman passed away peacefully in her home on Thursday, July 27, 2023.
Barbara was born December 26, 1939, the daughter of Leo and Anna Sutak Berardino.
Barbara was raised in Uniontown, and graduated from Uniontown High School in 1957.
She was proud to be a first generation Italian-American. Her father immigrated from Italy and became a United States citizen by serving in World War I. Her mother was a loving homemaker and teacher, and Barbara followed in her footsteps becoming an educator herself.
As a lifelong learner and educator, Barbara went on to earn her bachelor’s degree from California University of Pennsylvania, and her master’s and educational specialist degrees from East Carolina University in Greenville, North Carolina.
Her first marriage to Franklin D. DeBerry in 1960, took her to her new home in North Carolina, where she lived much of her adult life near Marine Corp Base Camp Lejeune and the surrounding area. There, she devoted the next 45 years of her professional career to the Onslow County School System. She was a teacher, guidance counselor, principal, and assistant superintendent during her long tenure.
Her many accomplishments included being the first female principal and assistant superintendent in the school district. Helping to develop and promote other young women in leadership roles was an important part of her legacy. She led the Onslow County School System to become accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools then went on to assist other schools across the state to earn accreditation, becoming a recognized state leader in the movement to raise public education standards.
During her time in North Carolina, Barbara married her lifelong partner and friend, John T. Newman, a local radio station director. After her retirement from the Onslow County School System in 2006, Barbara moved to Palm Coast, Florida, to be near her brother, Frank and sister, Mary Ann. During her retirement, she enjoyed interior decorating, landscaping and playing Pinochle with other senior citizens at the Palm Coast Community Center.
Barbara believed in giving back to the communities in which she lived and thus supported local civic organizations and charities. She served on the Cape Carteret Town Board of Commissioners, was a member of the Advent Health Palm Coast Foundation’s 20/20 Society, and has been a long time supporter of student scholarships at all of her alma maters. She earned the prestigious Order of the Long Leaf Pine, awarded by the governor of North Carolina to recognize her extraordinary service to the state.
In addition to her parents, she was predeceased in death by her husband, John Thomas Newman V; her brother, Franklin M. Berardino; her brothers-in-law, Ronald Ellis Williams, James Bridger Newman and Gene Aman; her sisters-in-law, Patricia Wyeth Berardino and Marianne Newman Racker; and her first husband, Franklin D. DeBerry.
Barbara is survived by her sister, Mary Ann Berardino Williams of Palm Coast, Fla.; a stepson, John Thomas Newman VI of Winston-Salem, N.C.; and sisters-in-law, Helen Newman Aman of Raleigh and Morehead City, N.C., and Nancy Newman Dudney of Raleigh, N.C. She is also survived by several nieces and nephews and great-nieces and great-nephews, including a very special niece, Kimberly Williams Riley and husband, John Riley III of Uniontown; and two very special nephews, Benjamin Leo Williams, Sr. and wife, Dr. Karen Mihalko Dowling Hegedis Williams of Cranberry and Theodore Ronald Williams, Sr. and wife, Deborah Reynolds Williams of Palm Coast, Fla.
The family will receive friends from 10 a.m. to 12 p.m. on Friday, August 4, 2023, at the DEGUSIPE FUNERAL HOME, Dolfi Chapel, 65 N. Gallatin Avenue, Uniontown, Stacey A. Dolfi, FD. A service will be held in the funeral home at 12 p.m., followed by Interment at Sylvan Heights Cemetery, Gallatin Avenue Ext. Uniontown.
In lieu of flowers, memorials can be made to: Sponsors for Academic Talent, Inc., Onslow County Schools, 200 Broadhurst Rd., Jacksonville, NC 28541; the Anna Sutak Berardino ’29 Scholarship Endowment, Penn West: California University of PA, Division of University Advancement, 250 University Ave., Box 112, California, PA 15419; or the Barbara B. Newman Scholarship Endowment, East Carolina University, Division of University Advancement, 2200 South Charles Blvd, Mail Stop 301, Greenville, NC 27858-4352.