Clarisa Newball Obregon's Obituary
CLARISA NEWBALL OBREGON was born in Colon, Republic of Panama on October 24, 1929, to Clarendon and Emily Newball, who had recently immigrated from La Isla de Providencia, Colombia, and Corn Island, Nicaragua, respectively. After Clarisa was born, her sister, Fulvia, arrived a year later. Like most siblings, as little girls, Clarisa and Fulvia used to fight, and Grandmother Newball used to spank them. When they weren’t fighting, they were in church wearing the prettiest dresses that Grandmother Newball made in between spanking and fighting matches.Grandmother Newball, Clarisa and Fulvia used to attend 3rd Street Seventh Day Adventist Church in Colon. Clarisa and Fulvia both attended Escuela Republica de Bolivia, from kindergarten through the sixth grade. Then they attended Colegio Vocacional de Panama, a junior high school in Pedregal, located in the countryside in Panama. Clarisa began working in a photo studio when she was 15 years old and worked there for several years. While in her 20s, her first son, Raul, was born. Soon after, Clarisa moved to Brooklyn, New York, and was later joined by Raul and Grandmother Newball. While living in Brooklyn, Clarisa met and married George Fonseca. From that union, Miguel and Wayne were born.Unable to adjust to Brooklyn’s harsh winters, Clarisa, Grandmother Newball and the boys relocated to the less harsh climate of San Francisco in the early 1960s. Clarisa began working for Crocker Bank and worked there until she retired in 1984. When the family first arrived to San Francisco, they began attending Philadelphia Seventh Day Adventist Church.Clarisa married Clemente Obregon in 1986. He predeceased her in 1990.Since childhood, Clarisa had problems with her heart. In 1988, she had a successful heart transplant, however, the anti-rejection medicine for her heart damaged one of her kidneys. Thirteen years later, she went into kidney failure, needed a kidney, and one was provided by her son, Wayne. In her later years and when feeling well enough, Clarisa attended Central Seventh Day Adventist Church in San Francisco. In 2005, Clarisa was diagnosed with mild dementia. In 2010, a cancerous tumor was found in her neck. The operation to remove it was 95% successful and the remaining 5% was treated with 16 weeks of radiation. Due to the acceleration of the dementia, Clarisa had no memory of the painful radiation that she had undergone. For the rest of her life, she struggled with health-related issues and was diagnosed with Leukemia on November 5, 2011. Clarisa departed this life on December 8, 2011. She is survived by her three sons, Miguel, Wayne and Raul; sisters Fulvia Dean (Marvin), Gloria Newball Alemengor (Nicolas); Sonia Butler (Terry) (both deceased); nephews Angelo Dean (deceased) and Tony Dean (deceased); Angelo’s wife, Lorraine Dean and daughter Rachel Dean; nephew Steven Dean (Marti) sons Antonio Dean and Carlos Dean; grand nephews Marcus Dean and Matthew Dean; niece Karen Dean, niece Sonia Butler Canzater (Randy), daughter Indirah; niece Monica Butler; grandsons Alex Fonseca and Darien Fonseca; cousin, Nereida Hsu, daughters Tabitha Hsu and Carla Hsu; cousin Beverly Brown, daughters, Xeneida Brown-Smith (Federico), daughter Kimberly; Melanya Harris (Ernesto), daughter Melanie; Francesca Brown (Marcelio Smith), George Tingling (Sara), children Elma Tingling (Pablo), Elzebith Tingling, Rodrigo Tingling, Roderick Tingling (Pilar), son, Brian Tingling, cousin Alejandrina del Turco (Juvencio), children Doralba Newball, son Javier; Eulalio Fernandez, Edgar Fernandez, Liviana Newball, Tania Fernandez (deceased) daughter Talia and host of other relatives and friends from the United States, Panama and Colombia.
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