Walter SIMON

1935 - 2026

Jun 23, 1935 - Feb 5, 2026

Walter Simon was born in The Bronx, NY, in 1935, the son of a Catholic and a Jewish parent. He left school at 15 and traveled the country from Maine to California, working on lobster boats and in kitchens. At age 18 he joined the Army, and while working in the mess hall, a fellow soldier who was a Quaker graduate of Haverford taught him to read and to write a good sentence. Returning home, the GI Bill allowed him to study makeup, anatomy, and lighting for television in NY. He arrived in Seattle with his wife, Carol, to take a job writing promotional copy for a radio station.

As a skilled puppeteer, Walter was highly successful in sales and promotion, using the Popeye image and his unique Popeye voice. He also worked for the New Seattle Science Center, during which time he acquired a giraffe skeleton for the Center and assembled it.

After Seattle, Walter worked at the Roslyn Café, made well-known by Northern Exposure, where he met his third wife, Canadian Mary Swaine. Their son, Sydney, was born after they moved to Montreal. Walter returned to Seattle for surgery and recuperation, once for open heart and later for throat cancer. On one of his many travels via Greyhound, he met Martha Iuster, who became his life partner until her passing in 2023. They moved to her log cabin in Montana at the base of the Mission Mountains and later moved to a small farm in Springfield, OR. Their life was full of gardening, music, mutual understanding, and the fellowship of The Society of Friends in Eugene, OR. In 2016, Martha had a debilitating stroke and passed away three years later.

Walter received a BS in Social Anthropology at the University of WA and studied motion and artiodactyls at Columbia University. Decades of field work – American and Canadian First Nations, as well as waterways – comprised his media experience, three TV documentaries, humorous newspaper publications, voice for commercial stations and PBS, major market experience, two volumes of poetry, and 50 readings.

Walter moved to Spokane in 2019, where he found support and encouragement in the Quaker community, the VA, and Goodwill. While living at Cathedral Plaza, he devoted his time and energy to writing, focusing on the interests of the city. He also became an active participant in the Spokane Quaker community, feeling particularly at home in the unprogrammed Quaker Worship Group, and serving as Spokane Friends Publicity Coordinator. Walter remained engaged with his community until his passing on February 5, 2026, receiving loving care and heartfelt tributes from the VA in Spokane, WA. He is survived by his son, Sydney Swaine-Simon of Montreal.