Carmon Benford Newell Jr., 79, of Meridian Road, Butler, died at 12:55 p.m. Monday in Butler Memorial Hospital.

Born March 14, 1931, in Portsmouth, Ky., he was the son of the late Carmon B. Newell Sr. and Martha Bergman Newell.

Mr. Newell attended Franklin Junior High School, Liberty High School and Penn State University.

He earned a Bronze Star for meritorious achievement and valor in action during his service as an Army sergeant during the Korean War.

He married in August 1954 and lived in Freemansburg for a time while working toward his master's in labor economics at Lafayette College.

In 1957, he moved his wife and their two small sons to Denville, N.J., where he worked as a staff representative in the Steelworker's Newark Union office. Three years later, he was assigned to work as a district technician for the union in Pittsburgh and eventually took a position with the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service. He later became the chief mediator.

He was a model railroad enthusiast and an enthusiastic racquetball player at the Butler Athletic Club. He was an avid gardener and was bestowed the honor of Kentucky Colonel.

Mr. Newell is survived by his wife, Joan Morrill Newell, who he married Aug. 7, 1954. Also surviving are two sons, Todd Nelson Newell Sr. of California, Md., and Timothy Carmon Newell of Wooster, Mass.; two grandchildren; two great-grandchildren; three sisters, Judith Laska of Cleveland, Mary Newell of Knoxville, Tenn., and Patricia Barbash of State College, Pa; and numerous nieces and nephews.

<B>NEWEL</B>L — There will be no public visitation or funeral service for Carmon Benford Newell Jr., who died Monday, Aug. 16, 2010. Private entombment will take place in the Chapel of Devotion Mausoleum in Butler County Memorial Park. A memorial service will be later.In lieu of flowers, memorial donations may be made to the Rainbow Animal Refuge, P.O. Box 145, Lyndora, PA 16045.Arrangements are under the direction of the <B>Thompson-Miller Funeral Home</B>, and information and a private guest book are available at www.thompson-miller.com.