|
 |
|
|
|
AWB Legends: Della Newman |
|
|
|
Written On: March/April 2004 |
|
|
|
Written By: By Charles Henry Thomas |
|
|
|
McCurdy-Newman Accomplished Many Firsts at AWB
Editor’s Note: As AWB celebrates its 100th birthday, we’re going to tell you about people like Della Newman. They are legends not only in business and politics, but have been the very fabric which made our state great.
When Wells McCurdy was elected AWB’s Chairman of the Board in 1979, little did he know that almost a decade later his wife, Della Newman, would become the first woman to chair AWB. They would be the first and only husband-wife team to rise to the AWB’s top elected position.
McCurdy served a one-year term before turning AWB’s reigns over to Spokane’s Wendell Satre, president of Washington Water Power (now AVISTA), in 1980. All the while, Newman would serve as AWB’s secretary-treasurer.
Little did McCurdy and Newman know that Della, elected AWB chair in 1988, would only serve a few months of her term before President George Bush nominated her to be ambassador to New Zealand in early 1989. Once confirmed by the U.S. Senate, she would hold that position for the tenure of the first Bush presidency.
Della Newman would be the first and only AWB chair to be appointed an ambassador – an honor that carries the life-long designation of “Ambassador Della Newman” when she is formally introduced.
McCurdy and Newman were close personal friends of President George and First Lady Barbara Bush. Newman chaired his campaign in Washington during his successful run for the presidency in 1988 and McCurdy was the President’s state finance director. That close relationship led to a life-long friendship. On occasion, the President and First Lady would stay at the couple’s beach-front home at Bow, northwest of Mt. Vernon.
The couple was prominent in the state’s Republican Party during the 1970s and 1980s. They also had the unique ability to work with Democrats as well. In fact, before Ambassador Newman departed for Wellington, New Zealand’s capital, Gov. Booth Gardner, a Democrat, held a reception in her honor in the Governor’s Mansion in Olympia.
As owner of Pacific Factors, Ltd, McCurdy was a prominent commercial developer in the Seattle area. Newman became president and owner of Village Real Estate in 1974. She was treasurer of Pacific Factors, Ltd.
McCurdy died in 1998 at the age of 79. The Seattle Times wrote: “Wells McCurdy, a Republican activist whose commercial developments included Northgate and Alderwood malls, practiced the art of the deal long before Donald Trump made the phrase famous. And he did it with style, entertaining aboard yachts he chartered out to others, or hosting galas aboard his own railroad car berthed at the Seattle waterfront.”
“My husband was a man of vision. He loved putting projects and people together,” Newman said. They were married for 19 years.
“Wells and Della helped guide AWB through some difficult times,” AWB President Don Brunell said. “When I joined the Board, I was with Crown Zellerbach and Wells was chair.”
“The organization was struggling financially and it was laced with internal turmoil. Had it not been for the dedication and tenacity of folks like Wells McCurdy and Della Newman, our association would have come apart at the seams.”
“Della was my first boss at AWB. My only regret is she wasn’t able to complete her full term as chair, but as Ambassador to New Zealand, she brought great honor to the Association of Washington Business.”
Today, Newman lives in their Bow beach home and remains active in organizations such as TVW.
|
|
|
|
