Mary Paula Newsome

Miss Mary Paula Newsome, daughter of Ms. Robert Lewis Newsome, Jr. and the late Mr. Newsome, died Monday June 14, 2021, at Piedmont Hospital in Atlanta, Georgia. After graduating from Washington-Johnson Community School in Washington County, Georgia, she attended Mercer University in Macon, Georgia. At Mercer she was chosen "Outstanding Greek Woman of the Year" for her sorority Alpha Delta Pi and Mercer Panhellenic. She was a member of the Baptist Student Union, a Litte Sister of Lambda Chi Alpha Fraternity and volunteered at the Bible Coventry Training Center for Women, Infants and Children's Program. She enrolled, after graduating from Mercer, at the Gemological Institute of America in California for a year, a study in precious stones and appraisal of them. Her first job was in Charleston, S.C., where she remained until a few weeks before her death and moved back to her hometown in Wrightsville, Ga. After working first for employees, she decided to open her own store – Harrison, Newsome Jewelers, which she operated until retiring three years ago. She then did private and commercial appraisals in the area from her home office. Paula was a very active citizen in her many years in the Charleston and Mt. Pleasant areas. She was always active in the church life and was baptized in her youth at Brown Memorial Baptist Church in Wrightsville. In her later years in Charleston, she affiliated with St. John's Lutheran Church where she was a Children's Sunday School Teacher. In Charleston and surrounding areas, she was very active in the Republican Party having been chosen early in her career "The Outstanding Young Republican of South Carolina". She was very active and an officer in many organizations – Daughter of the American Revolution, First Families of Georgia, Colonial Dames of XVII Century, Republican Women's Club, Charleston Museum Volunteers, United Daughter of the Confederacy, Harrison Families of Georgia, Inc, and writer in the three Claxton Family History Books. She leaves behind her mother, Mary Frances Harrison Newsome, brothers, Robert Lewis Newsome III, Carnage Harrison (Leigh) Newsome, niece, Katherine Harrison Newsome, nephew, Robert Lewis Newsome IV, and many other close relatives and friends. Graveside funeral services will be held on Thursday, June 17, 2021, at 11:00 A.M. in the Newsome Family plot at Westview Cemetery in Wrightsville, Johnson County, Georgia with the Rev. Burton Dixon officiating. In lieu of flowers memorial contributions may be made to the Brown Memorial Baptist Church Building Fund, 47 S. Valley St, Wrightsville, GA 31096. Stanley Funeral Home and Crematory/Wrightsville Chapel is in charge of the funeral arrangements.