NEWARK: Pearl Newton Rook, youngest of the three children of the late Paul D. and Pearl S. Newton, died March 18, 2019, after a short illness. She would have been 96 on March 26. Mrs. Rook’s mother and father had purchased the landmark Jackson & Perkins home on High Street in 1935 where she and her family spent many happy years.  Her father, P.D. Newton, was one of the founders of Commercial Enterprises, President of a local bank and a former Newark mayor. Pearl graduated from Newark High School, Class of 1941, and attended Mount Vernon Seminary. During that time she met Robert Chittenden, a local boy and a student at Valley Forge Military Academy. The married in 1942 and she spent the next several months as a “camp follower”, moving from Indiana to Kentucky and Arizona to Texas. Mr. Chittenden was sent overseas where she could not follow. He died during the Battle of the Bulge on December 30, 1944, on what would have been their second wedding anniversary. After returning to Newark she decided to resume collage, this time enrolling at William Smith College in Geneva. Once again her education was interrupted when in 1948 she and fellow student Douglas Lee Rook were married at the college chapel in 1948. Douglas Rook, who died in 1995 had been the first President of Sarah Coventry Inc., also served as Newark mayor and operated the More Candy Co. In Rochester The couple had three children, Pamela, Douglas Jr., and Sandra. As time went on Pearl and Douglas Rook found time for their common interest in poetry. Pearl’s first book was “Shifting Sands” followed by “Hidden Universe” and two others. In 1977 She and her husband Doug wrote the “Sound of Thought” together. Rook’s interest in poetry led her to the state presidency of the National league of American Pen Women. She was poetry editor at the Rochester Democrat & Chronicle from 1973 to 1982. In the 1970’s, and already a grandmother, Rook decided it was time to finally obtain her degree in English. She returned to William Smith college through the lifelong learning program and graduated in 1978. One of her greatest loves had been the family cottage at Crescent Beach, Sodus Bay. She spent nearly 86 summers there and drove her own boat across the bay until a couple of years ago.  She was not afraid to visit the cottage by snowmobile in the winter and also took flying lessons. Survivors- Daughters Pamela (John) Martin of Garner, N.C., Sandra (Herman) Cruz, of Virginia Beach, Va., thirteen grandchildren and 3 great grand children. Predeceased by her  husband, Robert Chittenden in 1945 and her husband Douglas Lee Rook in 1995 and son Douglas Jr. in 2003. A memorial service will take place  at the historic Newton Cemetery in Junius, N.Y. when the family is able to gather. Memorial donations may be directed to Newton Cemetery c/o Morgan Reale, 115 West 9th Street, Conshohocken, Pa. 19428

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