Page 4, Wednesday, July 14th, 1971, WHITBY FREE PRESS IN PORT RAIT-D. G. Biography in Brief If a tr ue study in ch ar acter dealt strictly with statistical data, we would onlyknow of the high municipal honours W h i t b y Mayor Desmond Newman h a s brought to this town. It is only people like His Worship Mayor Allan O'Brien of Halifax, Nova Scotia, who has in his own words "met w i th Mr. Newman on m an y occasions and been a guest at the Newman home whocan reach the depth of realm in the latter's persconality, and truly bring it out for pen and paper. Allan O'Brien, Mayor Halifax, N.S. "Des Newman is one of the brightest figures on the municipal scene in Can- a d a t o d ay. He h a s a sharp mind and w h a t w e sometimes call1 great pres- ence". He is regarded very highly in- deed across Canada, and knows no lim- its in his career. i would name him as a p o t e n t i a 1 premier of Ontario some day ". . . . . Desmond G. Newman was born in Bri tish Guiana on the north coast of South America on March 3rd, 1931. "He was very studious and read a great deal as a boy", reflected his mot- her who now lives in Toronto. While attending university inJamaica he spent several summers working at GM and other plants. Industrially, Des Newman moved to Oshawa in 1955 and worked as a met- allurgicalchemistfor Shell Oil in Tor- onto. In 1956 he joined Cametoid Limi ted in Ajax, and it was there friends say he began to show the promise of his en- thusiasm and drive. In 1959 he became Control Manager; he now owns the company. Beside tending the growth and suc- cess of his own company, Mr. Newman made time in those days to act as Civic AffairsChairman for the Oshawa, Jay- cees, s it on the separ ate School Board, toserve as president of the branch ex- ecutive of St. John Ambulance, to act NEWMAN on the four-man-team responsible for Denis O'Connor High School, to serve as Campa i gn Chairman of the Heart Foundation in Whitby and to participate in the development of the Joseph Ruddy Hospital. His dedication to people and services made his friends urge him to municipal politics in 1962. by Judy Durkee Fol lowing one term in office as coun- cillor on Town of Whitby council, Mr. Newman became chai rman of the Oshawa Regional Planning Association, where he devoted his energy to the formation of an area planning board. John R. Frost, Administrator 19.29 -1971 "I thought he would be a run-of-the- mili councillor when.he first appeared in municipal politics, John R. Frost, Town Administrator of 47 years re- collected. "But he is undoubtedly the outstanding mayor of recent times. He h as a good public image and is well- received where ever he goes. I would say that he is politically ambitious, but isnotusingWhitby as a stepping stone. He always has something sound to say and has an uncanny memory for detail. " A slim margin of twenty-five votes lost him the mayorality race to Warren Mowat in 1964 In 1965 Desmond Newman was elected the youngest mayor in the history of Whitby. Hewonwith a clear majority by receiving more votes than the total of his two opponents. Mr. Newman's la ter leadership in bringing together town and township won him the label "architect of amalgamation" and gave the town new scope and. dynam- ism. With amalgamation, Whitby, the fourth largest town in Canada, had its future mapped out for the next decade, a n d because of the Newman r e g i me's f o r e t hought and groundwork, kep t i ts developmentpotential intact, when sur- rounding municipalities proposed mer- gers later on. On J an ua r y 3, 19 6 8, Judge A. C. Hall adm i n is tered the oath of office, making him the first mayor of the new town. Fulfilling the speculation of the news media. Mr. Newman ran for federal el- ection in 1968. A great deal more speculation fol- I owed regarding whe ther or not the mayor would resign from municipal of- fice, and if he chose not to, could he fulfill both capacities. (c ntinued next page) NOM