In Memoriam

WALTER SIMPSON 1919-2016

Walter was my father-in-law. My wife was very close to him and she’s going through a very difficult time. I will eulogize him here because I couldn’t do it at the service. Besides, you know you all are all the friends I have in the world. That’s why I did this every day.

Walter W. Simpson, 96, of Richland Center died Saturday, October 22, 2016 at Pine Valley Community Village after a short illness. He was born in Richland County on November 4, 1919 the son of George and Nellie (Swenink) Simpson. On June 2, 1948 Walter was united in marriage to Letha Banker Campbell, and the couple moved to Rockford, Illinois where they lived until September of 1989. The couple moved back home to Richland Center after he retired from many years with Peoria-Rockford Bus Company as a driver both city and intra-state. Walter was a 61 year member of the Free Masons.

Walter is survived by his children: Mary Lou Gano of Longview, TX, Judy (Richard) Peterson of Loves Park, IL, Karen Vernon of Albuquerque, NM, Stan (Ann) Simpson of Davenport, IA; son-in-law: Jack Kosgard of Davenport, IA; 12 grandchildren; 16 great-grandchildren; sister Marcella McNelly of Richland Center; brother-in-law: Carol (Margaret) Banker of Richland Center; many nieces, nephews, other relatives, and friends.

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Walter met Letha, a widow with two kids, at age 19 in 1947. Her first husband was killed in 1945. They enjoyed 60 years together. He rode a Harley flathead and drove a charter bus cross-country. He’d sit and tell us of his travels for hours on end. During the war he worked with the Army Corps of Engineers at the Oak Ridge Laboratory in Tennessee. That’s where Enrico Fermi discovered how to turn uranium into plutonium to make the first atomic bomb. After the war Walter got a letter of gratitude from President Truman. Imagine how hard he had to work to support two stepdaughters and three of his own children. I guess the highest compliment I could give him was that he was a true badass in the best sense of the word.

There is a small cemetery in the township of Rockbridge, outside of Richland Center, Wisconsin. There are three plots together. His beloved Letha, who died in 2008, lies in the middle plot. Her first husband rests on one side of her. Walter will occupy the other side. I told DW that her mom will spend eternity between the only two men she ever shared a bed with.
My wife had gone to see him last Friday and said he wasn’t doing well. When I git up from my nap Saturday she was sitting on the couch crying. All she said was he’d given up on living. While she was at her BFFs that afternoon I got the call from her brother Stan. When people reach the age Walter did, you know the inevitable is coming. That doesn’t make it any easier when it happens. I think my beloved realizes how very fortunate she is to have had both her parents for as long as she did.

REST IN PEACE, WALTER. YOU’VE SURE AS HELL EARNED IT.

WALTER WITH DW AND MISS ISABEL AND MISS OLIVIA