Robert J Simpson
Robert “Bob” Simpson, 96, of rural Durand, has entered eternal life.
Robert was born September 30, 1912 in the township of Maxville, Buffalo County, WI to Robert and Mary (Schumacher) Simpson. He attended Maxville Prairie School, St. Mary’s School and Durand High School. He then partnered with his father on the family dairy farm and made agriculture his lifelong profession. On June 19, 1939, he married Marguerite “Peg” Flick at St. Mary’s Assumption Church in Durand, WI. In the tradition of Irish Catholics they dedicated their lives to rearing a ‘baseball team with a bench.’
To support his ‘baseball venture’, Robert engaged in auxiliary enterprises while farming, including Simpson Dairy, the first home delivery of pasteurized, bottled milk in the City of Durand. Later, he operated an apiary, was a partner in a custom harvesting business and acquired permits to mine gravel from his river bottom acreage.
His favorite pastimes were politics, Scrabble, card playing, hunting, reading, baseball, archery, aviation, traveling and the annual liar’s contest on St. Patrick’s Day.
He promoted sustainability in agriculture and the environment. Organizing farmers to collectively bargain for a living wage was his passion. The National Farmer’s Organization (NFO) raised awareness about just commodity prices. He later devoted time to educating and lobbying against the use of nuclear fission to generate electricity. He, along with hundreds of others, demonstrated that the Tyrone Nuclear Power Plant was an environmental and economic folly. That experience left him an advocate of green, clean, renewable energy. While in his eighties, he educated himself and others regarding the use of pesticides, particularly on area potato fields, and in defense of his neighbors, was arrested while protesting the aerial application of pesticides.
At 8 p.m. on January 6, 2008, Robert ‘rounded the bases and touched home plate’.
He is survived by eleven children: Robert D. (Janet) Simpson, Universal City, Texas; James (Kathleen) Simpson, Woodbury, Minnesota; Carol (John) Buhlman, Eau Galle; Daniel (Diane) Simpson, Durand; Ruth (Joseph) Robelia, Maplewood, MN; Marguerite (William) Schutten, East Troy; Helen (Robert) Kees, Durand; Bridget (Paul) Kovacs, Ewing, New Jersey; Barbara (James) Schuh, Rochester MN; Matthew Simpson (JoAnn Rucker, Kris Recker), Menomonie; Henry Simpson, Menomonie. He is further survived by twenty-two grandchildren; twenty-one great-grandchildren; one sister, Rita McManamy, Madison; one brother, Francis (Betty, Frances) Simpson, Ventnor, NJ; a sister-in-law, Grace Flick, Menomonie; and many nieces and nephews.
He was preceded in death by his parents, Robert and Mary (Schumacher) Simpson; his wife Marguerite (Flick) Simpson; his infant daughter, Mary Ann Simpson; his daughter-in-law, Catherine Simpson; his brother and sister-in law, John and Agnes Simpson; his infant sister Jennie Simpson; four other sisters and their spouses: Marion and Eilert Samdahl, Grace (Frank Weisenbeck) and Paul Bauer, Margaret and Bernard Golden, Ellen and Edmund Traun; as well as his sister-in law Betty Simpson; and his brothers-in-law Louis McManamy and Don Flick.
In lieu of flowers, the family prefers memorials to Round Hill Corporation, N5367 State Hwy. 25, Durand, WI 54736 or Assumption Catholic School Endowment Fund (St. Mary’s), 901 W. Prospect, Durand, WI 54736.
Friends may call from 4-8 PM Thursday, January 8, 2009 at the Rhiel Funeral home in Durand and one hour prior to services at the church on Friday.
Mass of Christian Burial will be 11:30 AM Friday, January 9, 2009 at St. Mary’s Catholic Church in Durand. Fr. Jeffrey Burrill will officiate. Burial will be in the church cemetery. Robert’s son, Matthew, will serve as the eulogist. Grandchildren serving as casket bearers include: Robert Simpson, Trent Simpson, Heidi Grundvig, Cory Simpson, Peter Robelia, Eric Schutten, Christine Kees Winkler, Mary B. Simpson, Bridget Gongora, and Erin Simpson.
Arrangements by the Rhiel Funeral Home and Cremation Services, Durand.