2018 Red Deer Newman family gathering

Lois Newman with Michael Currie at the Houstons' Red Deer home, 20 September 2018

The 2018 Red Deer Newman family gathering was a family dinner held on 20 September 2018 at the Red Deer, Alberta, home of Loraine Houston and her husband Bob Houston. It brought together three branches of the Newman family and was recorded by Michael Currie; the recording and the notes taken from it are a source for a number of Curriepedia articles.

The gathering

Loraine and Bob hosted the dinner at their bungalow at 3521 46th Avenue. Loraine's brother Dave Newman and his wife Lois had flown in from Terrace, British Columbia, and Michael Currie — a more distant Newman cousin, then based in Asia and visiting from Calgary — also attended. As none of the relatives had met Michael before, the evening had something of the air of a "blind date." After grace, the company shared a chicken dinner and a good deal of humour.

Over the course of the evening the family shared old photographs and home films — among them a 1912 portrait of the Newman family and footage of Dave's son's helicopter work — and telephoned Dave and Loraine's cousin Lynn Newman in Kelowna, British Columbia. The conversation ranged widely over family genealogy, the relatives' careers, health and family medical history, and pioneer stories of earlier generations.

Participants

• David "Dave" Newman, retired pilot, of Terrace, BC
• Lois Newman (1937–2023), his wife
• Loraine Houston (1939–2025), his sister, the host
• Bob Houston (1937–2022), Loraine's husband
• Michael Currie, a Newman cousin

Significance

The recording confirmed and added detail to the family's vital records and oral history, including precise dates, career anecdotes, and the pioneer stories of the Sloane family. It also covered the family's medical history, notably the alpha-1 antitrypsin deficiency identified in Harold Newman.