Cindy Jo Newton

Cindy Jo Newton, 53, of Geneseo, passed away on Friday, July 3, 2020, at home surrounded by her loving family. She fought a brief battle with pancreatic cancer, which she faced with courage, grace, faith, and love for her family and friends. A Funeral Mass will be held at 10:30 a.m. on Thursday, July 9, 2020, at St. Malachy Catholic Church. A recitation of the Rosary will be held at 9:50 a.m. at Vandemore Funeral Homes & Crematory - Geneseo Chapel prior to the Mass. Burial will follow at Oakwood Cemetery. A visitation will be held from 4 – 7 p.m. on Wednesday, July 8, 2020, at Vandemore Funeral Home & Crematory - Geneseo Chapel. In lieu of flowers, memorials may be directed to the Cindy Newton Memorial Fund.   Regulations allow for 50 people (including staff) at a time within the funeral home.  The funeral home will monitor capacity limits to maintain compliance with COVID regulations.  The funeral home requires that all guests at the visitation wear a mask for the safety of all those attending. 

Cindy was born on January 24, 1967, in Geneseo, IL to Marvin and Joyce Bauwens. She married Vince Newton on September 10, 1988, at St. Patrick Catholic Church in Colona, IL. They have one daughter, Carlie, who resides in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. Vince currently resides in Geneseo.

Cindy graduated from J.D. Darnall High School in 1985 and attended Black Hawk College.  She was employed at Farmers National Bank from 1985 until Carlie was born in 1997. She spent the next five years as a stay-at-home mom. Carlie and her mom share a very special bond.  Carlie was born with a rare liver disease called biliary atresia.  On December 23, 1997, Cindy became Carlie’s hero when she donated a portion of her liver to Carlie. Their transplant procedure was one of the first 20 living donor transplants in Illinois. Through this beautiful gift of life, Carlie is a healthy, young adult today. With Carlie’s liver disease, she was granted a family trip to Walt Disney World through the Make-A-Wish Foundation. The Make-A-Wish Foundation mission touched Cindy and Vince so much, they became wish grantors for children with critical and terminal illnesses.  The joy and happiness in the children’s faces when they found out their wishes had been granted brought so much joy to Cindy.

After Carlie started elementary school, Cindy became a teacher’s aide for special needs children at Millikin and Southwest Schools.  She loved the bonds she made with her students and her friendships with the staff.  Through her friendships with fellow teachers, they formed a group called the Dining Out Club (DOC). Their monthly dinners would consist of a lot of talking, eating, a little bit of drinking (Cindy’s favorite – pineapple juice and Malibu Rum), and a whole lot of laughter.  Cindy loved the time she spent with her DOC family.  She cherished and loved each one of them.

Cindy was a very strong advocate of organ donation. With the drive to make organ donation a topic of discussion, Cindy, Vince, and Carlie joined and volunteered with the Iowa Donor Network.  This organization educates and raises awareness of organ and tissue donation and supports and honors donor families and donor recipients.  Through the Iowa Donor Network, Cindy and Carlie were selected to represent Team Iowa in the 2017 Rose Bowl Parade and rode on the Donate Life Float.  It was an experience Cindy and Carlie hold close to their hearts.  Through the Iowa Donor Network, they were also actively involved with the Transplant Games of America.  This organization allows living donors and donor recipients to participate in Olympic sporting events such as swimming, track and field, volleyball, archery, and basketball.  In 2016, Cindy received a silver medal in the 1500-meter race/walk competition.  She loved the time spent with Carlie, Vince, and the Team Iowa Donor Network family.

Cindy enjoyed staying active and fit through Jazzercise. She was a Class Manager, attended classes every week, and was awarded Jazzercise T-shirts for completing 30 classes in 30 days and for being a 150-class member for three years. She always wore her pink tennis shoes to Jazzercise as she was a breast cancer survivor and warrior.  Through her involvement with Jazzercise, she made many friends that she referred to as her Jazzercise “family”.

Cindy was employed at Central Bank in Geneseo and worked in the bookkeeping department.  She loved her job.  She decorated her cubicle every holiday and you could always find a couple of Longaberger baskets and pictures of her family on her desk.  There was laughter wherever she was in the bank.  You would find her in the break room drinking a Mountain Dew, eating popcorn, and laughing so hard that she would be crying.  She enjoyed the Wednesday Lunch Bunch, but we could never eat Chinese food. Yuck!  She was very proud to be a part of the Central Bank family.

Cindy loved to laugh and was a friend to everyone she met. She was always ready to shop at Kohl’s and could always find a great bargain.  She loved chocolate, Mountain Dew, the Hammond Henry Hospital Jewelry sale, Longaberger baskets, Quarter Mania, her soft cuddly pajamas, and Mia, her snuggly puppy.

Cindy was an amazing mother, wife, daughter, sister, aunt, and friend.  She was so proud of Carlie and all her accomplishments. Vince was her best friend and she loved the annual trip to Myrtle Beach, South Carolina to celebrate their anniversary. She loved Vince and Carlie with all her heart. She truly felt blessed to have so many amazing people in her life.  She will be missed by many.

Cindy is survived by her loving husband, Vince; and their beautiful daughter, Carlie (Colton Sanchez).  She is also survived by her mother, Joyce; her sisters, Debbie (Tom) Sherbeyn, Nancy (Ed) Archer; and Shirley (Wes) Howe; her mother-in-law, Joanne Newton; her brothers-in-law, Scott Newton, and Eric (Katharina) Newton; sister-in-law, Kara (Dan) Barnes; and many beloved aunts, uncles, nieces, nephews, cousins, and extended family.

She was preceded in death by her father, Marvin Bauwens; grandparents, Camiel and Martha Bauwens, and Earl and Virginia Carroll; niece, Meghan Howe; father-in-law, Harold Newton; and Roy Parker.