Biography:


Dee Ann Anthony Newell, educator and advocate for children of incarcerated parents, passed away peacefully, her children at her side, on October 23, 2026, at Hospice Home Care in Little Rock. She was 80. Newell was born in Little Rock on April 22, 1946. Her parents, Allen Anthony and Jeanne Wilson Anthony, opened Arkansas’ first secular independent school, The Anthony School, in their home in 1944. Dee Ann grew up in this environment and later became a beloved teacher and the school’s headmistress from 1974 to 1992. As an educator, she applied her training as a psychologist and drew upon her compassion to nurture hundreds of students.

After graduating from Little Rock Hall High School in 1964, she earned a bachelor’s degree in psychology and statistics from Finch College and a master’s degree in psychology from Columbia University, both in New York. While a student at Finch, she interned as a social worker at the New York Psychiatric Institute.

Dee Ann was gregarious and loved spending time with friends and family. She was also known to experiment with home décor, never letting convention stand in the way. She avidly followed current events.

Her deep-seated concern for the well-being of all children extended beyond her own. This passion fueled her decades-long involvement in children’s rights advocacy, which led her to spend time in prisons. In 1994, after teaching parenting to inmates in prisons and jails, Newell founded the nonprofit Arkansas Voices for the Children Left Behind. She served as executive director of the organization, the only one in Arkansas dedicated to serving women in jail and their children. Arkansas Voices offered a lifeline to the parents and relatives of the children “left behind.” For 23 years, Arkansas Voices and its community partner organizations worked together to mentor and provide opportunities to more than 38,000 children.

Drawing on decades of on-the-ground experience in Arkansas, Newell wrote articles, essays, and handbooks and contributed to policy debates about child rights at the local, national, and global levels. One of her passions was advocating for a “Bill of Rights for Children of the Incarcerated,” which identifies key principles for state officials to consider when designing arrest protocols, policies, and laws that affect children. Newell was awarded a Soros Justice Fellowship in 2006 by the George Soros-supported Open Society Institute. During the two-year fellowship, she advised networks in 14 states, helping them develop programs and policies targeting children of parents in prison and their caregiving relatives. In 2011, Newell participated in a working group discussion focused on the children of incarcerated parents, hosted by the Committee on the Rights of the Child in Geneva, Switzerland. 

In 2013, the Obama White House named her a “Champion of Change” for her work with families. Newell also received the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of Arkansas’s Civil Libertarian of the Year Award for 2018. She spearheaded a campaign to combat the inhumane practice of shackling pregnant inmates while in labor.

She is survived by her children, John Buchanan and Asa (Anna) Newell; her sister, Andrea Anthony Romine and her husband, James C. Romine; her sister-in-law, Leslie Newell Peacock; two nieces, Katey Newell Hobbs and Hannah Peacock; two nephews, James A. Romine and Matthew Romine; and many beloved great-nieces and nephews. The love of her life, husband Frank Newell, passed away in 2021. Her family would like to thank the amazing caregivers at Hospice Home Care for their warmth and support. Memorials may be made to decARcerate (https://www.decarceratear.org) and the American Civil Liberties Union of Arkansas.

A service of remembrance will be held at 1 p.m. Monday, November 9, at Ruebel Funeral Home, which will be followed by a reception from 2-4 p.m. Arrangements are under the direction of RuebelFuneralHome.com