MADISON, Wis. — Henry Gardner Newell,

76, of Madison, Wis., died unexpectedly at his home March 20, 2024.

He was born in Little Rock on May 6, 1947, the middle child of Alice Henry Newell and Robert Whitfield Newell. He was known by many as “Hank.” He attended Little Rock public schools; the University of Arkansas at Fayetteville; Columbia University in New York City, where he graduated in 1969 with an undergraduate degree in philosophy; the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Cornell University. He taught at the University of Arizona, Rice University, Ithaca College, and Cornell, where he received an award for his summer teaching. His first marriage to Jenny Storthz in 1969 didn’t stick, but it did yield a cherished daughter, Katherine “Katey” Elisabeth. He had the good fortune of meeting Paula Gottlieb in 1983, with whom he promptly fell in love, married, and shared the rest of his life.

Hank loved golf and was the Junior State Golf Champion as a teen. It was said he could spell out his name in golf balls from the driving range. He loved chess, horse-racing and Kafka. He was a romantic, choosing as an epitaph — “I sit under clouds” — from Friedrich Holderlin’s “Ages of Life.”

Hank enjoyed beer and got a kick out of wearing a baseball hat emblazoned, “Beer is the reason I get up every afternoon.”

In his later years, he learned to tune the piano and was working out his own system of tuning when he died. He also loved nature, especially walking in the University of Wisconsin-Madison Arboretum and photographing the nesting cranes.

In his philosophy as well as in politics, Henry had an uncompromising commitment to the truth. He often said he’d liked to be remembered as “shouting philosophy from the kitchen.”

Hank was preceded in death by his parents; older brother Frank, aunt and uncle JoAnn and Frank W. Newell, and special feline pets Bartleby and Iris. He is survived by Paula, his beloved wife of 35 years; sister Leslie Peacock of Little Rock; daughter Katey Hobbs (Jon); grandsons Andrew and Alex Hobbs (whom he affectionately and collectively referred to as “Alexandrew”), all of West Hartford, Conn.; niece, Hannah Peacock, and nephews John Buchanan and Asa Newell. He will be deeply missed by all.

Donations in his memory may be made to the Longenecker Gardens Fund at the UW Arboretum or to the International Crane Foundation. May he peacefully sit under clouds until we meet again.