SIMPSON, James Forrest
Obituary
Submitted by Donna Barkley.
SIMPSON, James Forrest - Winona, MO
James Forrest Simpson, son of the late James V. Simpson and Muriel Simpson, was born August 5, 1950 at Poplar Bluff, Missouri, and departed this life April 19, 1983, at the John Cochran Veteran's Hospital in St. Louis, having attained the age of 32 years, 8 months and 14 days.
Jim served his country in the Marine Corps during the Viet Nam Conflict. He was a member of the Winona Christian Church. He graduated from Winona High School in 1968. For several years he lived and worked in the St. Louis area before returning to Winona in 1979.
He is survived by his son, James Cary of Cartersville, Georgia, his mother Muriel Simpson of Winona, two brothers, David of St. Charles, Missouri, and Mark of Winona, one sister, Carol Roberts of Winona, his grandmother, Esther Norton of Winona, his fiancée Sandra Sanders and her children, Cammy, Charlie and Tracy of Winona, and many other relatives and friends.
Jim worked as a teenager as a retail clerk at Miley's Hardware Store in Winona. He dated for four years and then married his high school sweetheart, Donita J. Barkley, on 25 Mar 1969 at the Christian Church in Winona, MO. Many of their high school friends were in attendance. Jim and Donita made their home in St. Charles, Missouri where Jim had employment at McDonnell-Douglas Corporation, until he was drafted into the Marine Corps in 1970. He received an injury to his knee during training in San Diego and was discharged. Following several years of working in the retail grocery business Jim changed his career to insurance representative and worked for Farm Bureau with his office in Winona in 1974-1975. He took a position with the Kemper Insurance Company in 1975 as a regional director over South Central Missouri. He and Donita were divorced in 1980 and sometime later Jim became engaged to Sandra Sanders Barnes, a former high school classmate.
During his brief lifetime Jim was a mature, easy going person who exemplified good character, honesty, and a wondrous sense of humor. He was popular and well liked in high school and in the workplace, making many new friends while maintaining good relationships with lifetime friends from childhood. He was polite and well mannered and considerate of others. Many of his contemporaries admired him for his scholastic aptitude and his wide range of knowledge and he could become very animated in discussing current events. He was skilled in entertaining and a gifted storyteller.
Funeral services were held Friday, April 22, at 10:00 a.m. in the McSpadden Funeral Chapel in Van Buren, with Reverend Lowell Moore officiating. Burial was in Mount Zion Cemetery under the direction of McSpadden Funeral Home. HE HAS GONE HOME.
©2005 Denise Woodside - Storyteller and Webmaster - My Simpson Family
