Edith Joan Cockrell New Obituary (1936

Edith Joan Cockrell New (1936-2020) Joan New died on November 26, 2020, after a sudden and severe heart attack. She was born in Rocky Mount, North Carolina, April 7, 1936 and received her BA degree from Blue Mountain College in Mississippi, where she held a music scholarship. She married Melvyn New, her husband of sixty-one years in 1959 and taught high school English as her first career in New Jersey, Tennessee, and Florida. While taking time at home to raise their two sons, she also worked with her husband to co-edit the scholarly edition of the first two volumes of the University of Florida Edition of Laurence Sterne. She returned to work as a Library Technical Assistant at the University of Florida, using her earnings to help send the boys to college, then enrolled in the low-residency Creative Writing program at Warren Wilson College, receiving her MFA at the age of 50. She has published two small volumes of poetry and numerous poems in poetry journals. As an Instructor in the University of Florida's English Department she taught poetry for several years in the Creative Writing program. In her later years, she turned all her many artistic talents to the art of quilting, winning a dozen or more local and state awards over the years. Joan is predeceased by her parents, Lottie and Fred, her sister Barbara and her brother Frederic, and her son David. She leaves behind her husband Mel, her son Carl Samuel New and daughter-in-law (Tanya), David's widow, Atsuko Fukuda, seven grandchildren, Emily, Felicia, Michael, Hannah, Kohei, Brennan, and Kellen, and her many quilting friends, especially those in the miniature and crazy-quilting bees. Spending time in her flower garden was one of her great pleasures, as were nature walks, long walks on Crescent Beach, and, above all else, corresponding with her grandchildren. In lieu of flowers, the family asks that donation be made in Joan's name to Collection Development, Harn Museum of Art at the University of Florida PO Box 112700 Gainesville, FL. 32611. Checks should be made payable to the University of Florida Foundation. Graveside Services will be Tuesday, December 1, 2020 at 10:00 am at Forest Meadows Cemetery, 4100 NW 39th Ave. Gainesville, FL. Arrangements are under the care of MILAM FUNERAL AND CREMATION SERVICES 311 S. Main Street Gainesville, FL. (352) 376-5361 www.milamfh.com