TOM NEWTON - GRANDSON OF TOM & SYLVIA HELSCHER

It is always exciting to receive an email

from someone from Paradise.

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Millard received an email from Tom Newton

after Tom had seen Millard's name and information on Facebook.

Tom sent this picture which was taken of Tom and Millard in 1942.

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Tom on the left - Millard on the right.

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Serious conversation, don't you think?

It reminds me of that farmer photo that was so well known several years ago.

Tom wrote the following . . . . .

I saw your name and information on Facebook and remembered that I had a picture taken of us in Paradise when we were both about two years old. Although I don't believe we have met since we were very young, I have been told about those days in Paradise by my mother, Charlotte Newton, who is still living. She was born near Paradise to Tom and Sylvia Helscher. I was born in Hays in 1940 and lived in Natoma until I was six years old. Our family moved to Wellington in '46 and returned to Natoma in '52 to stay until '54. I received a BS in Ed. from Emporia State College in '63 and an MA in English there in '73. I was at Northeastern State Univ. in Tahlequah from '85 to 2000. I took an early retirement and moved to Hays to teach 6 more years at Ft. Hays State .

Tom Newton

I answered his email and asked for his permission to print what he had written

and among many other subjects (me being gabby)

I talked about us being from Emporia and Emporia State University.

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Tom wrote another interesting email . . .

You have my permission to publish the photo and e-mail I sent to you. I would be interested in hearing more about what you folks have been involved in over the past 50 or 60 years.

I did earn both a B.S.E and an M.A. from Emporia State Teachers College in Kansas. I went on to finish a doctorate at Oklahoma State University in Stillwater. I have many great memories about Emporia. In 1963 after completing a bachelor's degree in Spanish and Russian, I went to Kismet, Kansas where I taught Spanish, Russian, and English in the High School for four years


My mother has been living in an apartment in Warrensburg, MO where my sister and her children live. Charlotte, my mother, who is 92 has been living by herself for the last 17 years. She suffered a crippling stroke in December of 2009 and is in nursing home now. She still has an excellent memory, especially regarding people she knew when she was a young girl during the 1920s and 1930s She was born on a farm about a mile west of Paradise and lived there until she was 22 years old. Her dad was Tom Helscher and her mother was Sylvia (Zigler) Helscher. Her uncle, Charley Helscher, ran the feed store in Paradise in the 30s and 40s. You may remember some of my other relatives who were from around Paradise. My mother's brother Bryan Helscher and his wife Louise lived in Paradise for years. My aunt Anna Boedeker live out west of Paradise on K-18. You may remember Anna's daughters Vesta Henry and Esther Perkins.


I look forward to hearing from you


Tom Newton

Thank You for the emails, Tom. We appreciate you for taking out the time to tell us about your family. I'm sure you will bring back many memories to several people, mentioning so many "Paradise Names".