Donald Ray Newbrough of Ames died Thursday, December 6 at Mary Greely Medical Center. He was an attorney with the Newbrough Law Firm and former Mayor of the City of Ames. A gathering of family and friends will be held at Grandon Funeral and Cremation Care, 414 Lincoln Way, Ames on Wednesday, December 12, 4-7 pm and a Memorial Service will be held on Thursday, December 13 at 1:30 pm at First United Methodist Church with the assistance of the Universalist Unitarian Fellowship.
Mr. Newbrough was born on Thanksgiving Day, November 29, 1928 in Troy Township, Wright County, near Eagle Grove, Iowa. His parents were Harold J. and Grace M. (Moser) Newbrough. He attended Troy Township #4 rural school through the eighth grade and graduated from Eagle Grove High School. He attended Iowa State College and received a law degree from the University of Iowa with the Class of 1952. On October 1, 1953 he opened a law practice in Ames at 240 ½ Main Street and later associated with Harold O. Hegland. He married Donna L. Cowan at the First United Methodist Church in Ames on May 26, 1984.
Mr. Newbrough was a member of the Iowa and American Bar Associations and the Story County Bar Association, serving as President, associated with the real estate and probate sections. As a member of Boards of several civic organizations he served as President of the Ames Noon Rotary and of the Ames Junior Chamber of Commerce. He helped form the Ames Home Builders Inc, Northcrest Inc., Octagon Center for the Arts, Ames Town and Gown, Ames Chamber Music Association, and Ames International Orchestra Festival Association (AIOFA). He was the recipient of the Christian and Charlotte Peterson Octagon Outstanding Volunteer Award and was recognized by the The Ames Tribune as an Unsung Hero. He was a life member of the Vincent, Iowa United Methodist Church and a faithful supporter of the Ames Universalist Unitarian Fellowship.
Mr. Newbrough was preceded in death by his parents and brother, Robert D. Newbrough and is survived by his wife, Donna L. Cowan Newbrough, two daughters, Susan (Mitch) Lawrence and their children Nicole (Richard) Thornton and Brandon Williams of Phoenix, Arizona, and Nancy (Tim) Hamlin and their children Madeleine Rae and Tristan John of Winchester, Kentucky, one step daughter, Leanne (Dr. Edward) Barnett and their children Graham Edward Donald and Cameron John of Patricksburg, Indiana, and four great grandchildren, Grace, Olivia, and Charlotte Thornton and Skylynn Williams.
Mr. Newbrough enjoyed the arts, reading, music, theater, his family, and spent much time with nature in his beloved Newbrough Woods as well as RAGBRAI and canoeing Midwest rivers. The Newbroughs and Weiss's supported the well-received Ames Jazz Party for fourteen years. Traveling nationally and internationally, he enjoyed meeting new cultures and serving his clients. A devotee of non-violence and the philosophy of Martin Luther King and Mahatma Gandhi, he believed that violence is rarely a means to resolve disputes. He was committed to peace and the sanctity of service following the Rotary motto of "Service Above Self."
Mr. Newbrough donated his body to the University of Iowa Hospital and Clinics for medical research. Memorials may be made to Octagon Center for the Arts, Ames Community Theater (ACTORS), and the University of Iowa Newbrough International Law Scholarship.