Paula Ball Newkirk

Paula Ball Newkirk, 84, of Gainesville,  passed away Saturday December 1, 2018.  She was born on 6 June 1934 to Edgar and Pauline Ball of Gainesville. “Captain” Ball established the bands at Riverside Academy and several other Hall County schools, and Pauline taught piano to generations of local youth.

Paula was a graduate of Gainesville High School (‘52), Agnes Scott College in Decatur, Georgia (‘56), and the Presbyterian School of Christian Education in Richmond, Virginia.

She married Richard Newkirk, a Presbyterian seminarian, in 1958. His career in the ministry took the couple to churches in West Virginia, Maryland, Pennsylvania, and North Carolina. At each step along the way, Paula supported the church’s ministry by playing the organ, leading the volunteer choir, and teaching Sunday school classes for adults. In Marlinton, West Virginia, where she last lived before retirement, she taught English at the local middle school for over two decades.

Paula returned to Gainesville for retirement with her husband in 1996, and she continued teaching adult Sunday school classes at First Presbyterian Church and was active in the church and community. Her unique combination of wit, seriousness, devotion to teaching, and loving acceptance of others enabled her to establish lasting friendships and leave a profound impression on all who knew her.

She was preceded in death by her parents and husband. Her survivors include son Mark Newkirk; daughter Elizabeth Newkirk Parsons; daughter-in-law Veronika Newkirk; four grandchildren, Tony and Becca Parsons, Anna and Eduard Newkirk; niece Pat Newkirk and her family; and nephew Donald Ebeling and his family.

The memorial service will be held at First Presbyterian Church in Gainesville, Georgia on Saturday, December 15^th at 2:00.  In lieu of flowers, the family suggests donations to the First Presbyterian Church missions committee.

Those wishing to send online condolences to the family may do so at littledavenport.com

Little & Davenport Funeral Home and Crematory, 355 Dawsonville Highway, SW, Gainesville, Ga. 30501 is in charge of arrangements.