Saturday, October 31, 2026 | St. Lawrence County, NY
CANTON - Gene K. Newman, 72, of Pink School Road did Wednesday, October 28, 2026 at Canton-Potsdam Hospital.
Calling hours will be held on Sunday, November 1, 2026 from 2:00 to 4:00 and 6:00 to 8:00 PM at Lawrence Funeral Home, 21 Park Street, Canton.
His funeral will be held at the funeral home on Monday, November 2, 2026 at 11:00 AM with family and friends participating. Burial will follow in Brick Chapel Cemetery.
Additional off-street parking is available behind “LUNA” at 18 Park Street.
Memorial contributions are suggested to:
*Sandy’s Steps (St. Lawrence County ALS organization) 267 State Hwy 37C Massena, NY 13662
*SLVP - Gene Newman Legacy fund slvpaddlers.org St. Lawrence Valley Paddlers, PO Box 616, Canton, NY 13617
*Canton Rescue Squad, 77 Riverside Drive, Canton, NY 13617.
Gene was born a son of late Glenn and Florence (Coffey) Newman in the Village of Canton on August 10, 1954. He was a 1972 graduate of Canton High School and furthered his education by graduating from Canton A.T.C. in 1974 with an associate degree in Agricultural Science.
Gene grew up and began his work career on the family dairy farm on State Highway 68. Gene, his father and brother William, ran the farm until it was time to sell the herd. It was then (1990) he and his brother John decided to start Grasse River Boatworks, crafting specialty canoes for racing as well as touring style canoes. In 2006 the business reorganized to GRB Newman Designs and the production of high end recreational and racing canoes and paddles continued. In 2025, due to Gene's ALS diagnosis, he and John sold the business to Maxwell Eaton III and is now known as GRB Max. Gene was also well known in the art world for his wood sculptures. He specialized in creating beautiful natural finish one piece sculptures. Favorite subjects were owls, birds of prey, hummingbirds and later more exploring of replicating leaves and flowers. Gene was a self taught artist and was inspired by the abundance of wildlife surrounding his family farm land and his home in the woods.
On August 24, 1991 he married Kathleen Duffany in Brick Chapel Church. The couple were married 35 years.
Surviving are his wife, Kathleen Duffany of Canton; two daughters, Anna Newman and wife Ciara Herrera-Newman of NJ and Haley Newman of Troy, NY; two brothers, William “Bill” Newman of Massena and John (Brenda) Newman of Rensselaer Falls; a brother-in-law, Martin (Caroline) Duffany; sisters-in-laws, Melissa (Philip) Crocetti; Karen (Bernie) Rowe; and nephews, John (Kelli) Newman; Ethan Duffany; Nieces, Natalie (Bob) Ramsey; Emma Duffany; Meghan and Kristine Rowe; Ruolan Crocetti; and a number of great-nieces and a great-nephew. He will also be missed by his loving dog “Olive”.
He was predeceased by two infant children Benjamin and Sarah Newman and a great-niece Kendra (Newman) McHenry.
Gene was a member of the St. Lawrence Valley Paddlers (SLVP) and had served as President and most recently Vice President. He was also the Race Director for Canton Canoe Weekend as well as a member of the NYPRA (formerly NYCRA).
We are thankful for all of the loving people that helped with caring for Gene. This includes his Physical Therapy team, home nursing and doctor support, kind respite volunteers, dear friends, neighbors and family that visited and kept him up-to-date on canoe racing and activities Gene could no longer participate in. Gene was truly humbled by all of the support that was given to us so he could stay at home.
Tributes, photos and condolences may be shared by visiting www.lawrencefuneralhome.org
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