Elizabeth Newark

August 28, 1929 - December 25, 2018

Elizabeth Newark, age 89, died December 25, 2018, in Northfield, Minn. Born August 28, 1929, in London, England, to Albert and Edith (Taylor) Newark, she attended the Tiffin Girls’ School and trained as a secretary. She worked in London and then overseas in Borneo, Tanzania where in 1957 she married Barry Dinneen, and Kenya, where their two children were born. They moved to the Bay Area in 1964 and divorced in 1972. She was a legal secretary at Thacher, Jones, Casey & Ratcliffe and later at Pettit & Martin, where in 1993 she survived the 101 California Street mass shooting. As Betty Dinneen she published works of juvenile fiction and nonfiction about African wildlife. As Elizabeth Newark she published two novels inspired by Jane Austen’s “Pride & Prejudice” and a sequel to Charlotte Bronte’s “Jane Eyre.” She was active in the Jane Austen Society of North America and the Dickens Society, for which she wrote essays and presented talks at meetings and conferences. She is survived by her daughter Penelope Dinneen Hillemann (David Keyes) of Northfield, son Hugh Dinneen (fiancee Erika SutinenGonzales) of Berkeley, and grandchildren Caiman, Eli, Kai and Taavi Dinneen and Phoebe, Harriet and Henry Hillemann. She was preceded in death by her brother Peter. Memorials preferred to Planned Parenthood or African Wildlife Foundation and may be sent to Penny Hillemann at 12 Frances Circle, Northfield, MN 55057.