Deborah Lee Newman

Deborah Lee Newman was born November 11, 1947 in Memphis, Tennessee to the parents of Homer Boone Hanks and LaRoyce Burns. She went to her Heavenly home on June 12, 2026 after a valiant battle with Lewy Body Dementia. She was with her daughter and son-in-law when she passed and was greeted in Heaven by her beloved husband Jerry Newman, niece MaryLynn Smith-Oglesby, and father Boone Hanks.

Funeral services will be held at 2:00 p.m. on Tuesday, June 16, 2026 at Scott’s Funeral Home in Gatesville, with Raul Saucido officiating. Burial will follow at Murphree Cemetery in Evant. The family will receive visitors one hour prior to services at the funeral home.

In her early years she lived in Tennessee and when she was seven years old she got a baby sister, Theresa Hanks Smith. She eventually made her way to Texas, where she lived with her grandparents, Thomas and Hazel Burns. She graduated from Winnsboro High School in 1965. After graduation, she moved to Dallas, where she worked for Skaggs Albertson and was even a taste tester for what would become Hostess Twinkies. In 1969, she went on a blind date with Jerry Newman and fate took over. She married the love of her life two weeks later in a small ceremony and they were married 45 years until his passing in 2015.

During her marriage to Jerry, she raised his two daughters, Charlotte and Catherine, as her own. They welcomed Tania in 1971 and Carl in 1973. Life brought them to Hamilton in 1976, where they built a house and lived there until 1991. In 1980, she earned her LVN license at the Gatesville School of Vocational Nursing. She also earned her EMT and EMT special skills certification in 1986 and rode ambulance in Hamilton County. She worked third shift at Hamilton General Hospital when she wasn’t doing ambulance runs. She also worked shifts at various nursing homes in Hamilton County. In 1987, she was employed at the Texas Department of Criminal Justice as an LVN till her retirement in 2012.

In her spare time, she enjoyed gardening, reading anything and everything, traveling and hanging out with her grandchildren. She taught Sunday School at Coryell Community Church and took care of Jerry. They traveled to Las Vegas, Colorado and all over Texas. They loved a good road trip and often when they got in the car, with Jerry navigating, they would just end up in the oddest places. Sometimes they would go to Dairy Queen to share an ice cream and fries.

Deborah was preceded in death by her husband Jerry Newman; niece, MaryLynn Smith Oglesby; and father, Homer B. Hanks.

She is survived by her four children, Charlotte Smith and husband Mark, Catherine Highland and partner Ryan Carr, Tania Holbrook and husband Robert, and Carl Newman and fiancé Shawn Kanoute; sister, Theresa Smith and husband Gary; nephews, Corey Smith and Eric Newman and niece Carla Newman. She also leaves behind nine grandchildren, Brennan Green, Skylar Smith, Hilairy Buck, Thomas Buck, Alek Highland, Ashton Holbrook, Conner Holbrook, Hayden Holbrook and Whitney Escobar; and four great grandchildren, Lily, Heidi, Aiko and Arabella and one great grandbaby on the way.

Deborah also “adopted” a family that she loved dearly. She is survived by Harry and Candy Brasier and their children, Daniel Morrison and wife Brittney, Faith Keck and her husband Adam and Esther Brasier. Her adopted great grandchildren are Silas Morrison, Ivy Morrison, Abbie Barbero, Gabriel Keck, Nahla Keck, Izabella Keck, Zahra Keck and Elias Keck.

Deborah had a servant’s heart. Go forward in honor of her and be a servant to others and spread kindness everywhere. She would have wanted that.