Robert Simmonds Obituary

Robert Lee SIMMONDS November 15, 1915 ~ December 11, 2008 Bob Simmonds was a sailor, a world traveler, a lover, a friend with a great smile and a sense of humor that never quit. He was passionate about life and fishing, and politics, and trains and tools, good hard work, and cooking.At the age of 93 and still with that signature head of silver hair, he died at home surrounded by friends and family. Bob was born to Mabel and James Simmonds in Spokane. His only sibling, an older bother, drowned in 1922. After graduating from East High School in Denver in 1933, Bob spent 4 years in the Navy on the battleship Tennessee as a gunner and as an electrician's mate. During that time, Bob was a member of the winning team in a crew race on Lake Washington. As a result, he had his picture with his Navy crew and the Seattle Yacht Club cannon in the Seattle Times, and subsequently enjoyed his first dinner at the SYC. It turned out to be the first of many, as he later became a SYC life member. He loved his sailboat, the Kim III, and his trawler, the Darwin (and dinghy, the Beagle). In 1938, Bob put himself through the University of Washington by working in a sorority for room and board, graduating with a degree in electrical engineering, with a specialty in radio and high-frequency techniques. Bob was commissioned as a 1st lieutenant in the Army Signal Corps, and served as a captain in England with the Army Air Corps as a radar officer. He also installed radar, in India, on Boeing planes that were flying over "the hump." Courted by both General Electric and Westinghouse after the war, he worked at Westinghouse, selling electrical equipment to a variety of industrial and commercial users. After retiring from Westinghouse, he joined ILI Corporation, where he sold generator sets and electrical switchgear for many of the most notable building projects in the Northwest. Bob is survived by his wife, Jean. Together, they traveled to Tahiti, Mexico, Canada, the Mediterranean, France, Switzerland, and South Africa (where an alpha male baboon tried to join Bob in the back seat of their car! - at the age of 91, Bob forcibly won the battle.) Bob was previously married to Ann Bovig, and is also survived by their son, Scott (former daughter-in-law Dianne Egan); daughter, Leslie Day (Richard); and grandchildren, Bridget and Eamon Simmonds, and Richard and Andrea Day. Bob was also previously married to Hope Laurie, and was step-father to James and Bryan Laurie and Linda Work. A memorial service will be held at the Seattle Yacht Club,1-4:00 pm, Sunday, January 18, 2009; 206-325-1000. In lieu of flowers, remembrances may be sent to the Millionaire Club Charity, 2515 Western Ave., Seattle, WA 98121, or to the SYC Foundation, 1807 Hamlin Street, Seattle, WA 98112, for sailing lessons for disadvantaged youth. Also, thanks to Providence Hospice.