In loving memory of Ms ROSA SOTELO DE NEWBALL
Actualizado: 20 ene
(written by Dr. Ralph Newball Sotelo)
Rosa Sotelo Sotelo was born in Villa de Leiva, Boyacá, on October 26, 1920. Daughter of Pablo and Amadora, from whose love five children were born: Julio, Amelia, Rosa, Pepa and Darío.
At the age of 17, driven by the spirit of improvement that characterized her, she left her hometown for Bogotá, the capital of the country. Her combination of people skills, her attractive personality, but above all her personal effort to move forward, made the Pedagogical Institute open its doors to her, giving her a job opportunity. At that time she met Mr. Robert Urdaneta Arbelaez who later became president of Colombia, and Don Emilio Gamba, an influential bank directive, who encouraged her to enroll at the Colombia Institute, where she later graduated as a correspondent typist, and at the Colombo-Britanico Institute where she did her English studies. She then began to work at the Banco Central Hipotecario as executive assistant to Don Emilio Gamba, remaining in that position for several years. Looking back, today we can conclude that The Divine Providence led her to that place, because it was there that she met the love of her life, as Mr. Elru Newball McLaughlin understood very little Spanish and she served as a translator for bank business, with whom she joined her life on October 28, 1950, after a short courtship. God blessed this home with the arrival of her firstborn: Elru Newball Sotelo, followed by his siblings Ralph, Elma and Jimmie. When she retired from the aforementioned Bank due to her marriage, she served as a bridge for her beloved sister Pepa to replace her.
She was baptized in 1952 by her father-in-law, professor, captain, and pastor Rudolph T. Newball Robinson in the sea at Rocky Point, Old Providence Island, committing to serve God and His cause, together with her husband, for the rest of her life.
Under the visionary influence of her husband, and in search for a better environment for the growth and development of her children, the family decided to live permanently on Old Providence. The move from a cosmopolitan environment with a lot of urban movement to a semi-rural and quiet place like Providencia, was not easy for her. Time and time again she missed her beloved Bogotá. Faced with this situation, her husband had an ingenious solution: he named a piece of land owned by the family in Bottom House after Bogotá. So he would often say to her: -Rosita, please let’s go with me to Bogotá- and take her to the land at Drenkwood Road in Bottom House.
The strategy worked. She put down roots in Providencia, becoming incarnated in the hearts of its inhabitants, serving with passion as a nursing assistant, typing and shorthand teacher, unit school teacher at the Rocky Point [Alta Vista[ Adventist school, studied organ playing with Mr. Sono Livingston and with her husband started teaching music to her children, and had other varied social outreach activities, becoming an integral part of the island community in its traditions and customs of which she was proud.
Her peaceful time in Providencia was clouded after a regrettable accident that happened to her youngest son, Jimmie. Her dedication, love and tender care brought him forward, keeping him emotionally tied to her until her last breath.
From Providencia she moved to San Andrés Island, where she supported her husband in a business selling auto parts and YAMAHA musical instruments and motorcycles, which had to be closed due to a flooding that occurred as a consequence of the dredging of the Bay, in what we know today as Newball Avenue. This circumstance brought them back to Providencia.
In January 1968, due to the marked concern for the future education of her children, she moved with her family to the city of Medellin, where they developed different business ventures, introducing the YAMAHA and later KAWAI brands to Colombia.
While Elru Jr. was the pastor of Providencia, Ralph served as governor of the Department and Elmita and her family worked at the Adventist University of Chile, they decided to return to our beloved Old Providencia with her husband and her youngest son. There she lived the sad experience of the death of her life partner.
After a fall that fractured her hip and the surgery that she had to undergo, she moved to Argentina to live under the care of her daughter Elmita, her husband and her family, who at that time were working at the Universidad Adventista del Plata, later moving when her son’in’law was appointed president of the Adventist University of Colombia ‘UNAC’ in Medellin. Grandma Rosita lived with them for approximately 15 years, until the day of her death.
When asked to what she owed her long life, she always answered that it was because she had given her life to Jesus and to the love that all her children gave her. Grandma Rosita, as she was affectionately called, will always be remembered, among other virtues, for her pious life, her passion for sharing the gospel with others, her vocation of service without expecting anything.
In return, her extraordinary ability to make friends easily, her delicious bread that she shared so many times with family and friends, her dedication to studying and memorizing passages from the Bible, her fine sense of humor, her positive attitude toward life, her healthy vegetarian lifestyle as well as her fidelity and deep love for God and her family.
After a hospitalization of several weeks, accompanied by the tender care of her children, she rested in the Lord on January 2, 2025, at 1:30 p.m., at the San Vicente Hospital Fundación de Rionegro, until Jesus, her savior and her closest friend brings her back to life, in his soon return to this earth.
Her passing will be deeply missed by her children Elru Jr. and Neyla, Ralph and Rosabell, Elmita and Abraham, and Jimmie; Her grandchildren: Abraham Jr. and Nathalya with Nathan Daniel and Johnny, Elmita Rosa and Sebastian, Kathryn and Saul with Anashly and Hannah, Doreen, Rudolph and Angel with Tristan and Mila, Evelyn and William with Evans and Illian, Ana Lucila and Glaucio, Mac and Whitney with Kerstein, her eleven great-grandchildren, nieces and nephews, and friends.
One of her favorite Bible verses that sustained her life with hope and that also sustains ours is
John 14:1-3
“Let not your hearts be troubled. You who believe in God, believe also in me. In my Father’s house are many mansions; if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to myself, that where I am, there you may be also.”
(A note from the editor of RDC: Ms Rosa lived on Earth an exemplary and inspiring life for all of us. A life that sought the perfection that pleases God. A legacy that remains and endures among us through the lives of her children, family, and community. Thank God for her!)
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