Linda Burg Newton, 78, of Katy, Texas, passed away on October 11, 2023, after a brief illness. A descendant of the early settlers of Florida, she was born in Palm Beach County on December 6, 1944, to Irene (née Underhill) and Roy Burg. Linda was reared in Loxahatchee, Florida, on the westernmost edge of Palm Beach County. She initially attended Palm Beach High School and graduated from Forest Hill High School with the Class of 1962. After attending then-Palm Beach Junior College, Linda began her career in the legal field, working for some of the most prominent attorneys in Palm Beach County. In 1977, after reading in the newspaper that paralegals in Houston were being paid the outlandish sum of $800 per month, she (like one of her favorite sayings) was “gone to Texas.” Without a job, Linda arrived in Houston with three kids and $300 in her purse. She soon met Don Newton, a Vietnam helicopter pilot and the love of her life. They were married after only four months and enjoyed many happy years until he passed in 2018.
On a Sunday in the spring of 1978, Don, Linda, and their kids took a drive to see what was in Katy. They bought a house that day, and Katy would be Linda’s home for the next 45 years. They settled first in West Memorial and, later, on the golf course in Falcon Point. Many “Katy kids” (whom Linda treated as her own) grew up in the Newton family home.
Linda worked for 20 years in Houston as a paralegal and legal administrator for many well-known and prominent Houston trial lawyers. Although she did not possess a law degree or license, her organizational skills and ability to work under extreme pressure made her a valuable “second chair” at trial. She worked on many noteworthy lawsuits in the 1980s and 1990s.
When the first of her grandchildren arrived, Linda left the legal field and founded Showcase Enterprises, Inc., with Don. Over the next 20 years, they built Showcase into not only a very successful video and advertising business but also a work family. They loved the people who worked with them at Showcase and worked well after they should have or needed to in order to be with and support their work family.
Most often anonymously, Linda donated to many local charities even when she didn’t have the money to spare. She also gave freely to friends and family in need, holding back on paying one of her own bills if necessary. And she instilled the same generosity in her children. She loved a Hallmark movie, a glass of Chardonnay, and sitting on the back patio with her honey at sunset. Linda’s Sundays were devoted to Southern cooking and watching football. Indeed, on her final day, she asked to watch a college football game. She loved painting watercolors, making ceramics, and dancing. She surprised the family by being the first to own an iPod Shuffle just so she could dance to Michael Jackson. There wasn’t a fast-food item or sweet treat that she denied her grandkids. Linda loved animals and inanimate objects alike, even running outside in the rain to save a few clothespins. If you knew Linda, you knew she loved a Monarch butterfly. And she had the most infectious giggle.
Late in life, Linda became a certified Texas Master Gardener, which helped make her weekend property in New Ulm a showplace. She also attended evening painting classes at the University of St. Thomas and earned a certificate from the New England School of Protocol. Manners and grammar were of the utmost importance in the Newton household. Until the day of her death, she had no problem correcting her kids.
In addition to her parents, Linda is preceded in death by her daughter, Christa; her husband, Don; her brother, Norman Burg; and her sister, Karen Johnson, along with her most beloved Cocker Spaniel “Patsy” and parakeet "Petey,” whom she never stopped loving.
She is survived by her son, Duke (Jennifer) Keller, Jr., of Katy; daughter Michelle (Ron) Lovett of Katy; daughter Pam Keller (David Stone) of Fayetteville, Texas; stepson Michael (Nicole) Newton of Nashville, Tennessee; grandchildren James Lovett, Kate Lovett, Brock (Reagan) Lovett, Madeline Keller, McKenna Keller, Lauren Keller, Hamilton Keller, Logan Stone, Lauren (Zaq) Widdows, and Michelle (Chris) Bray; brother Clifford F. (Sheri) Burg of Indiantown, Florida; sister-in-law Susan Newton (Nate Therien) of South Hadley, Massachusetts; brother-in-law Ken (Connie) Newton of St. Joseph, Missouri; and her first husband, Duke Keller, Sr., of Palm Springs, Florida.
A private memorial service was held for Linda in the courtyard at Brennan’s, her favorite restaurant. She will be inurned with Don at the Houston National Cemetery.
In lieu of flowers, donations can be made in Linda’s honor to the Down Syndrome Association of Houston, the Wounded Warrior Project, or St. Jude’s Children’s Research Hospital.