The Franklin Reporter & Advocate Eight Villages, One Community
Charles J. “Skip” Simons, Jr. of Somerset, passed away on February 9 at Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital in New Brunswick. He was 74.
Skip was born in Miami Beach, FL and raised in Miami. He graduated from University of Notre Dame in 1968 and was a life-long, passionate fan of its football and basketball programs. After receiving his MBA from University of Florida in Gainesville, Skip began working as an investment banker at Smith Barney in New York City. His career was put on hold to serve with the US Army Artillery, stationed at Fort Sill in Lawton, OK, from 1969 to 1971. After leaving the Army in 1971, Skip moved to Somerset and returned to Smith Barney, where he spent the next 20 years working in the New York and Tokyo offices, before taking early retirement in 1990 due to the challenges of Multiple Sclerosis.
Always ready with an array of oft-told stories, Skip volunteered at the Franklin Township Food Bank, enjoyed meeting new people at the Quailbrook Senior Center, always made time to watch Notre Dame and New York Giants football, and loved hosting a good meal with family and friends. He was a parishioner most recently of St. Peter the Apostle RC Church in New Brunswick.
Skip was predeceased by his mother, Mary Feuger Simons, in 2009.
Surviving are his wife of almost 53 years, Joan; daughter and son-in-law, Stephanie and David Neal of Fanwood; son and daughter-in-law, Colin and Demi Simons of Shelburne, VT; and daughter Sarah and partner Patrick Bakaj of Newport, RI; father, Charles J. Simons, Sr. of Islamorada, FL; brother, James Simons of Hartland, VT; sister and brother-in-law Susan Simons Slovich and Michael Slovich of Islamorada, FL and Novelty, OH; and grandchildren, Teddi, Connor and Tyler of Shelburne, VT.
Private cremation services have been arranged under the direction of Gleason Funeral Home in Somerset. A memorial mass and celebration of Skip’s life will be held later in the year.
In lieu of flowers, donations in Skip’s loving memory can be made to the New Jersey Symphony Orchestra, where he was a long-time subscriber, or the Franklin Township (Somerset) Food Bank.
