A Good Age: Braintree daughter's teenage rebellion brings message of hope, reconciliation

BRAINTREE – Mothers who have weathered a child's difficult teenage rebellion might take heart in this story.

When Linda Sylvester, 65, of Rockland, first got in touch with me, she said, "I have a couple of people for you to write about that would benefit the world."

One of them was her mother, June Newman, 85, of Braintree.

"She was director of veterans affairs in Braintree and in Randolph, is still very active at the Quincy Y, went to night school for 12 years and served in the military," Sylvester said. "She is very giving. I have great admiration for her. And she goes shopping for elderly neighbors and takes them meals."

The first encounter we all had was last July when Sylvester's neighbor, Lillie Durgan, of Rockland, turned 100. Both Sylvester and Newman were the main support for Durgan, who died in October.

Inspiration: A GOOD AGE: At 100 Rockland's Lillie Durgan advises 'Do for yourself. Use it or lose it.'

And now it's time to tell Newman's story about an independent woman who worked hard to support and guide her family. She grew up in South Boston, graduated from Girls' High School in Boston in 1954 and joined the Air Force.

"It seemed exciting," she said. "My best friend and I planned it. We wanted to travel, meet other people. It was patriotic."

She was stationed in Texas, where in 1955 she married and began a family, but eventually became a single parent for her daughter, Linda, and son, Robert.

In 1962, she and the children returned to Massachusetts to share a household with her parents, George and Eileen Stratton in Quincy. They helped her with child care while she worked and began what would become a 35-year career with the federal government.

In 1965, at age 29, she bought a two-family home in Hingham. She and her children lived on one side and she rented out the other side.

Newman worked at Fort Devens in Ayer for the Department of Defense as a statistician and cost analyst, and later as a drug and alcohol education coordinator. In 1984, she had a home built in Leominster, but then, after her mother died, she moved back to West Quincy in 1987 to care of her father.

Meanwhile, she went to night school at Northeastern University for 12 years, from 1968 to 1976, to earn her college degree and then earned a master's degree in education at Boston State College in 1980.

In 1992, she retired from the federal government. She had moved to Braintree with her father and soon became the outreach coordinator at the council on aging from 1992 to 1996. She then served as veterans agent and elder services director in Randolph from 1997 to 2003, and filled in on a temporary basis as veterans agent in Braintree in 2006.

In the midst of all this, Sylvester was growing up and describes herself as "a strong-willed kid" who rebelled.

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"It wasn't easy growing up because my mum did work a lot and was going to school, but we always knew we were loved," she said. "She wanted to be an example to us, and not live off the system. ... I always felt that I did better with one parent than most ever do with two. My mum made the right decision at the time we were growing up. She was tough, but she was kind, and she always had a great sense of humor."

In the turbulent teenage years, Sylvester said, "I was a brat," determined to do as she pleased. Newman recalled calling other parents to try to locate her daughter when she didn't come home and how one mother told her, "You should treat her like your friend." Newman knew her daughter needed a mother.

Eventually, the two came back together and today Newman says, "If Linda needed to go through what she went through in those growing up, teenage years, it was all worth it to have her be the woman she is today."

They belong to Fort Square Presbyterian Church in Quincy, share a strong faith and walk together regularly at the former naval air base in South Weymouth. They also love to sing together.

"My mother has a beautiful alto voice and used to sing around the house growing up," Sylvester said.

"I just wanted my kids to have a deep faith, to be respectful, decent giving people, not takers but givers," Newman said. "I fed that into them to the best of my ability."

Newman's son, Bob, who does landscaping work, lives with her.

With her mother as a model, Sylvester said, "I want to be kind, be positive, not bitter or complaining. Every opportunity that comes into your life, you have a choice of how you are going to react. My mum has taken situations that haven't been so positive and learned from them."

Reach Sue Scheible at sscheible@patriotledger.com.

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This article originally appeared on The Patriot Ledger: Daughter's Mother's Day tribute to former veterans agent June Newman