William Henry Simpson

William Henry Simpson (June 29, 1932-October 4, 2020)

From Massachusetts to Morocco, Scottsdale to Seattle, the Algarve to Laguna Niguel, Notre-Dame de Paris to the San Luis Rey Mission; or be it the Louvre, the Isabella Gardner, the Metropolitan, the Getty, the National Galleries; or from Quincy High to the U.S. Air Force, University of Arizona, BS, MBA, IBM, Raytheon, Motorola, and The Crowell Company, the places, passions, professions, life's moments and milestones, life's quanta, do not in the accounting meet the measure of the man.

He was human, eminently human, with faults he himself knew, but, like us, not base nor unpardonable faults. He was pugnacious, industrious, self-made, both solitary and social, idealistic, casually brilliant, authentic, romantic, eloquent and witty, learned, extremely frugal, even cheap, and yet also, profoundly liberal, caring and generous in matters human and material, gregarious, self-deprecating, outspoken, outlandish, incorrigible, and so very humorous-at heart, ever lovable, winning, and wise, a modest and humble survivor of his time and a renaissance unto himself.

He was a loving and ever-loyal son, brother, cousin, husband, father, uncle, father-in-law, grandfather, great-grandfather, and genuine friend, especially to the downtrodden.

He succumbed to long-standing COPD and congestive heart failure during the brutal 2020 wildfires in the Pacific Northwest. Now forever with his Maker…Ah, just to remember the very fun of the man!

He is survived by his seven children-William Simpson (wife Sabrina) of Shoreline, WA; Valerie Simpson (wife Mary Kay) of Scottsdale, AZ; Jay Simpson of Scottsdale, AZ; Christine Simpson of Lake Forest Park, WA; Amy Simpson of Leesburg, VA; Jon Simpson of Santa Monica, CA; and Mary Cox of Redding, CA-, his three sisters-Marie Simpson, Audrey Dietel (husband George and family), and Doris Pedersen (and family) all of Hyannis, MA-, his cousin and best friend Gilly Lewis of Boston, MA, his six grandchildren-Molly Bernstein (husband David), William Simpson (wife Lindsey Luley), Dallas Simpson (husband Brian Ahles), and Cori Simpson all of Washington, and Colette Cox and Kevin Cox of California-, his two great-grandchildren-Ryder Simpson and Parker Ahles of Washington-, his sister-in-law Virginia Mangen and family of Tucson, AZ; and Heidi Geddes of Washington.

He was predeceased by his devoted former wife and mother of his children Barbara Ann Berry Simpson.

The Simpson family wants to acknowledge their undying gratitude to Dr Rob Shoff and his dear wife Katie of Redding, CA for their 24/7 help, their caring and their compassion, which helped ensure that Bill's comfort, safety and dignity were maintained for the entirety of his hospice care. We are forever grateful.