Amos Simpson Obituary

Dr. Amos Edwin Simpson

LAFAYETTE - Funeral Services will be held on Saturday, August 2, 2014 at 1:00 PM in Delhomme Chapel of the Flowers in Lafayette, for Dr. Amos Edwin Simpson, 89, who passed away on Tuesday, July 29, 2014 in Lafayette.

Interment will be held in Lafayette Memorial Park Cemetery.

Reverend Wilmer McNair of United Church of Christ will conduct the funeral services.

He leaves to cherish his memory, his beloved wife of 33 years, Helen Vaughan Burdin Simpson; one daughter, Thetis Cusimano and her husband Richard; two step-sons, Larry Eugene Baker, Jr. and David Scott Baker; one step-daughter, Elizabeth Baker Murrill and her husband John; one grandson, Judge Christopher Joren Lyons and his wife Shi Yun of San Francisco, CA; six step-grandchildren; two great granddaughters; and several nieces and nephews.

He was preceded in death by his parents, Charles Arthur Simpson and Myrtle Naomi Miller Simpson; and two brothers, Reverend Arnold Simpson of Little Rock, Arkansas and Kelly Simpson of Mena, Arkansas.

Dr. Simpson proudly served in the United States Navy during WWII as a naval radio reconnaissance operator in the Marshall Islands. He earned a Ph.D. in Modern German History from the University of California at Berkeley, served on the faculties at the San Francisco State University and the University of Arkansas before joining the Department of History in 1956 at what was then SLI. He chaired the USL Department of History from 1966 - 1971, served as Assistant to the Dean of the College of Liberal Arts, was a Co-Founder of the Center for Louisiana Studies and was the Frank A. Godchaux Honor Professor of History until his retirement in 1995. He was the author of several books and historical articles and a former President of the Louisiana Historical Association, the Southwestern Historical Association, the Southwest Social Science Association and the European History Section of the Southern Historical Association. He taught abroad with the University of New Orleans Summer Program in Innsbruck, Austria, was a co-founder of the UL-France Study Abroad Program. He was a Fullbright Scholar in India and in China and was an honored mentor and friend to many students at both the graduate and undergraduate levels.

Dr. Simpson will be greatly missed by his family, friends and all who knew and loved him. One of his former students said, "Every person he met face to face, he touched in a positive way."

Pallbearers will be Christopher Joren Lyons, John Parham Murrill, Jr., Baker Whitfield Murrill, Paul Burdin Murrill, Larry Eugene Baker, III, Cameron Scott Baker, James Henry Murrill and Kelly Canulette. Honorary Pallbearers Richard Cusimano, Sr., Larry Eugene Baker, II, David Scott Baker, John Parham Murrill, Sr. and Dr. Arnold Krammer.

The family requests that visiting hours be observed in Delhomme Funeral Home on Bertrand on Friday, August 1, 2014 from 5:00 PM to 8:00 PM. Visiting hours will continue on Saturday from 11:00 AM until the time of service.

In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions can be made in Dr. Simpson's name to UL Lafayette Foundation, Amos Simpson Endowed Prize Fund, P. O. Box 44290, Lafayette, LA 70504-4290.

Special thanks to the caregivers and staff at Rosewood Assisted Living, Senior Helpers of Abbeville and Vee's Sitter Services.

Personal condolences may be sent to the Simpson family at www.delhommefuneralhome.com.

Delhomme Funeral Home, 1011 Bertrand Drive, Lafayette, LA is in charge of funeral arrangements.

To plant trees in memory, please visit the Sympathy Store.

Published by The Advertiser from Jul. 31 to Aug. 2, 2014.

Memories and Condolences
for Amos Simpson

10 Entries

Jeanne Cortinas

August 22, 2014

Dr. Simpson was a mentor of mine when I went to what was then USL. He was immeasurably kind to me, but no more so than he was to everyone. We have lost a great man of the Great Generation, and we will miss him.

Laura Davis

August 6, 2014

It was a pleasure knowing Mr. Amos for the short period that I have worked at Rosewood; what a beautiful soul. My condolences to the family. Many blessings to you all.

Daryl Newsom

August 5, 2014

He was bayoneted in the chest by the Japanese. He was also sweet on Herbert Eugene Bolton's granddaughter. I thought the world of him. God bless you and yours Dr. Baker.

August 4, 2014

Can Heaven hold his energy? We'll miss him so much. Clayelle

Kenneth Privat

August 2, 2014

He was simply the best! Because of him I am still an avid reader of history and feel I am a better person because of him. He made you want to be to best you could be. God bless Professor Simpson.

Yvette Robinson

July 31, 2014

The man who made history come alive for me! It has been many years since I graduated, but his lectures are still as vivid to me today as they were then. My thoughts are with you, Vaughn.

Roland Cousins

July 31, 2014

I am terribly sorry, but I know he lived a long, wonderful life.

Jim Delahoussaye

July 31, 2014

Dr. Simpson? He could explain history better than anyone else I ever met. In 1958 he asked the question in class "What generals beat the Germans in Russia in WWII?" "Generals January and February" he said. I never forgot it, and knew from then on that Russian winters were very cold.

Donnie & Pete Broussard

July 31, 2014

Vaughn-I am sorry for your loss-he was a great person and you were able to be his partner for all those years-May GOD speed his love unto your family during this difficult of times.

Christopher L. Simpson

July 30, 2014

When asked of my pre-natal antecedents, I routinely speak of my Father, my Mother, and my Devisor, the last of whom I explain to puzzled countenances to be the Lafayette-based history-professor Amos Edwin Simpson. In the theater a "Devisor" is one who enlists multiple "Authors". Years before my brother and I were born, Amos Edwin, altruistically concerned lest two helpless infants' parents be selected at random, screened for us an excellent pair meeting his high standards. What our lives owe to them we can owe no less to Amos Edwin, without whom our parents would not BE our parents. But like his students (Mom among them) I owe him far more for his having lived a scholar's life truly well-lived, and showing that life to me whenever he could, which was never often enough. That's what's going to stick. It's also what makes this hurt so much. I was seven years old when I saw a copy of "Why Hitler?" on our sofa, and figured out that books, real published books, were written not ONLY by far-away people in an off-stage universe, but also by someone I KNEW as flesh and blood and personality.

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