Howard Stanley Simonoff

Howard Stanley Simonoff died in Dedham, MA on April 11, 2026 at the age of 93.

Howard was born in Brooklyn, New York in 1933 to Jack and Lillian Simonoff. He attended New Utrecht High School and Brooklyn College, and afterwards served in the US Army in Germany. His college sweetheart, Anne (nee) Ruderman, traveled there during his service and the two were married in Nuremberg in 1954. (Anne Simonoff passed away in December 2019 after 65 years of marriage). Upon his return to New York he attended Columbia Law School. After his graduation, Howard and Anne then relocated to the Philadelphia area where he worked for the National Labor Relations Board, then for a law firm in South Jersey where he rose to become a named-partner representing labor unions. Howard was revered by his union clients and won numerous awards as one of the most prominent union-side labor lawyers in the region.

Howard was a voracious reader, an amateur thespian, a gifted public speaker (“always open with a joke” was his advice) and an aficionado of classical music. He and Anne were avid supporters of the Philadelphia Orchestra, the Philadelphia Opera Company, and the Santa Fe Opera Festival. Inspired by Dr. Kenneth H. Cooper’s 1968 book Aerobics, he was an early adopter of jogging and running, participating in many road races until late in life. He was a devoted baseball fan, first of the Brooklyn Dodgers, then the Philadelphia Phillies, and finally the Boston Red Sox. When Anne began law school herself in 1977, Howard became a gifted cook.

A man of unfailing good humor, he loved a good joke, a bad joke, and, of course, a pun. Until nearly the end of his life, when asked by a medical professional, “How do you feel?” he would invariably answer, “With my hands!” A natty dresser, until his retirement at 71 he could rarely be seen not wearing a bow-tie and suit on a workday.

He spent the last six years of his life happily at Wentworth Senior Living in Portsmouth, NH where he enjoyed the weekly singalong, trivia games, and watching the egrets and gulls feed in the tidal estuary outside his living room window.

He is survived by his children Amy Schmidt (Deena Bernstein), Mark Simonoff (Phyllis Hwang), and Eric Simonoff (Meredith Kaffel Simonoff), by his five grandchildren, Rachel Schmidt (John Schmidt), Naomi Onigbinde (Theo Onigbinde), Hannah Schmidt, Ashley Simonoff, and Lucy Simonoff, his great grandchildren, Simon Onigbinde and Emma Schmidt, his siblings Sydney Simonoff (Vivian Simonoff), Shelley Eisner (Richard Eisner), and several nieces and nephews. He was predeceased by his brother and sister-in-law, Warren and Paulette Simonoff.

The family will celebrate his life in a small private ceremony. In lieu of flowers, the family asks that a donation be made in Howard’s name to Planned Parenthood www.weareplannedparenthood.org; or Wentworth Senior Living staff scholarships at Wentworth Senior Living, 346 Pleasant Street, Portsmouth, NH 03801, Attn: Endowment, see https://wentworthseniorliving.org/about-us/support-us/; or Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia at https://www.chop.edu/. For online condolences, please visit legacy.com. Cards can be sent to Mark Simonoff, 1725 York Avenue, Apartment 14G, New York, NY 10128 or [email protected].