Obituary of Sally Newman

In Memory of Sally Newman
by Hon. Harry T. Edwards
Circuit Judge, U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit

On Friday, August 16, 2019, Sally Corbette Newman, passed away at the untimely age of
36. She was the beloved spouse of Romain Philippe Guimard, daughter of Joe Newman and Nancy
Margaret Houska, sister of Megan Schneeberger, and granddaughter of Liz Newman and Ellen
Scott. Sally was born in Montana and raised by her father. Her father says that he “deserves only
credit for giving Sally a peaceful place in the hills near a stream in coyote country to read to her
heart’s content without electronic interference, with fresh veggies and clean mountain air and
water.” The mountain air obviously served her well because Sally achieved so much and touched
the lives of so many people after leaving Montana.
Sally graduated from Dartmouth College in 2005. She then received a prestigious Root-
Tilden-Kern full tuition scholarship, awarded for public service, academic merit, and leadership,
to attend the NYU School of Law. She graduated from law school in 2010 and worked in several
public interest positions, including as an Associate Attorney with the Southern Environmental Law
Center in Charleston, South Carolina. During 2013 and 2014, Sally served as one of my law clerks
on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit in Washington, D.C.; and during 2014 and 2015,
she served as a law clerk for the Honorable Richard M. Gergel on the federal district court in the
District of South Carolina in Charleston, South Carolina. It was during her clerkship with Judge
Gergel that Sally put down her roots in Charleston.
As Sally settled in Charleston and embraced her new home in South Carolina, she was
determined to provide low-cost legal representation and assistance to the working poor and
others of modest means who do not qualify for free legal services but who cannot afford a private
attorney. In 2016, with no funds, staff, or office space, and no experience in running a legal
operation, Sally established Charleston Legal Access and took over as the Legal Director. She
parlayed her strong skills as a committed public interest attorney with experience in criminal
proceedings, community development, civil rights law, refugee resettlement, employment law,
and environmental law, and used her extraordinary talents as an advocate to convince members
of the legal community, government officials, foundations, and the public-at-large to contribute
to her effort. She assembled a small staff of devoted colleagues to work with her in developing
CLA. However, anyone who worked at CLA did so out of commitment to the mission and loyalty
to Sally, not to make money. Even though Sally was still a relatively young attorney, who was very
new to South Carolina, she quickly began to make her mark. She believed that lawyers have a duty
to serve the public good. And she worked tirelessly to achieve this ideal, not just with an
advocate's zeal, but with dedication, compassion, patience, and understanding. People rallied to
support Sally’s efforts because of her great professional work on behalf of others and her uncanny
ability to connect with others in ways that made them want to be on the side of the angels.
Sally had a really good year in 2107. She earned the respect and admiration of everyone
with whom she worked and served. And CLA made impressive gains in recovering funds for low

income clients, defending their claims, and extinguishing their debts. As Sally was achieving great
success in her professional efforts, she and Romain fell in love. Romain was an acrobat with
Compagnie XY, a touring French contemporary circus collective. Sally had a strong interest in
acrobatics and circus arts, so it was not surprising that they were drawn to one another. They first
met when Romain and his circus troupe performed at the Spoleto Festival in Charleston in 2013.
After dating for nearly four years and overcoming the challenges of a long-distance relationship,
they decided to get married. And then the bottom fell out of Sally’s life. In January 2018, she was
diagnosed with osteosarcoma, a rare and deadly cancer with very low survival rates.
Sally survived nearly twenty months after her diagnosis, while enduring very difficult and
wearing consultations and treatment regimes at the Mayo Clinic, Memorial Sloan Kettering, and
the Cleveland Clinic. The odds of survival were never very good, but Sally never quit. And, as best
she could, she continued to live her life to the fullest. In a beautiful ceremony, Sally and Romain
were married on March 31, 2018, at Mepkin Abbey, a Trappist monastery in Charleston, South
Carolina. Sally always had the abiding love and support of Romain, even during her most trying
moments. She also had the support of her sister Megan, who left a job in Chicago to be with Sally,
and her good friend, Natalie Deyneka, a lawyer in Charleston, who gave her invaluable assistance
in managing insurance claims, conferring with hospitals, researching treatment options, and
serving as Sally’s advocate in a slew of matters. And some good friends created a GoFundMe
account to help Sally cover the enormous expenses associated with her medical treatment.
During her illness, Sally decided to write about her situation. She posted four compelling
essays on Medium, an online publishing platform. The essays are heartrending and captivating.
They offer lucid explanations of what Sally was facing, including honest, thoughtful, serious,
profound, sometimes humorous, and sometimes sad thoughts on life and death, grace, and
reflections on living life to the fullest. She never sought pity. Dealing with cancer was not a
win/lose situation for Sally. Rather, as she explained in her essays, she aimed to give meaning to
the situation that she was in and make it clear that she was not giving up. She always lived life to
the fullest, to her capacity to the end.
In her last essay written on July 29, 2019, Sally said: “We’d hoped treatment would give me
more time to be on this earth, but as it’s turned out, treatment has simply extended my time on
treatment, and it’s getting harder and harder to withstand even the ‘easier’ therapies.” But in her
usual upbeat manner, she added: “I’m lucky to have lived my life exactly how I’ve wanted to. I’ve
traveled, and visited wonderful places. I’ve worked my ass off as a lawyer advocating for those
without the resources to do it on their own. I’ve worn lovely clothes and attended lavish parties
and renovated an old house and planted fruit trees in my front yard. I’ve marched in the streets
and protested wars and then worked to resettle refugees from those wars. I’ve performed in and
produced circus shows, dangling from rigs and trees and spinning freely, joyously, through the air.
I’ve hiked mountains and visited parks and camped and had the most wonderful, enjoyable,
frustrating, interesting mishaps and relationships and adventures. What I want now is mostly just
to rest and be in retirement.”

Sally touched so many people, many of whom had never met her. Her unfailing
commitment to serve the public interest, determination to assist underprivileged members of
society, and sterling accomplishments made her shine. And her grace and wise words about life,
even when she was terminally ill and hurting, were inspirational to so many people. Her fortitude
and commitment to doing good in the world will be missed. But her memory is a blessing.
Donations can be made to Charleston Legal Access, 1630 Meeting Street Road, Suite 106,
Charleston, SC 29405, or Sarcoma Warriors SC, PO Box 24190, Greenville, SC 29616, in Sally’s
honor.
 

A celebration of Sally's life will be held at the Cannon Street Arts Center, located at 134 Cannon Street in Charleston, South Carolina on Saturday, October 5th at 1pm.  

Despite the sadness behind the reason for our gathering, colorful attire is encouraged.  Sally loved all the vibrancy of this world. Let's try to shine for her.  

Please bring memories, stories, knock-knock jokes and your shiny selves.