Last July, as Sally Corbette Newman was dying of cancer, she wrote: “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.”
On August 16, Sally 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 attended the Cardwell School from 1992 to 1996; graduated from Bozeman High School with top honors; and was state champion in Policy Debate in 1999 and 2000. She was raised north of Cardwell by her father, who 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.
