Lewis Gregory Simons

Born: 2 November 1940 Morristown, NJ

Died: 30 December 2025

Celebration of Life will be held at Leak Memory Chapel, Montgomery, AL.:

20 February 2026-9:30 - 12:00 PM

Interment: 2:00 pm - Alabama National Cemetery, Montevallo, AL following the Celebration of Life.

Lew Simons was born in Morristown, NJ on November 2, 1940, to Stanley L. Simons & Kathryn Fancher Simons.

After graduating from Morristown High School, he received his degree in Psychology from Fairleigh Dickinson University.

While in high school & college, he worked with his father, Stanley, at Simons Printing & Publishing in Morris Plains, NJ where they did job printing & published a weekly newspaper (The Morris News Bee).

In college, he wrote for the campus newspaper & received membership into Pi Delta Epsilon Honor Society for journalism.

Col. Simons proudly served his country in the United States Air Force for over 27 years. He held various assignments across the country, had a tour in Vietnam, & was on the faculty of Air War College at Maxwell AFB when he retired in 1991.

While on active duty, Lew obtained his master's degree in Adult Education from Troy University in Troy, Alabama.

Music was a large part of his life. He played trombone in both junior high & high school. During college he was a member of the Gaines Orchestra in N.J. where he met his future wife, Gloria Mecadon. When he entered the Air Force, music had to take a back seat, but while he was stationed at Maxwell AFB, he once again picked up his trombone. He played with the Recreators, the Capitol Sounds Concert Band, & the Up Beats in Montgomery, AL & the Southeast Community Band in Troy, AL.

Lew loved a good game of cribbage. He also looked forward to the weekly breakfast meetings with members of the trombone section.

He was preceded in death by his parents, Stanley L. Simons & Kathryn Fancher Simons, his sister Kathryn Jean Wurster Schmidt, his aunt Lenore Simons Bell & his uncle Colonel Arthur D. (Bull) Simons.

He is survived by his wife of 61 years- Gloria Mecadon Simons, daughter Lisa Kaminsky (Charles); son Lewis Carl Simons (Marcy) grandchildren: Zachary Kaminsky, Tyler, Scott, Bret & Katherine Simons; niece & nephews (Suzanne Agnello, David, Marc & Christopher Wurster)

In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the Parkinson Foundation, the Wounded Warrior Foundation, Tunnels to Towers or a charity of your choice.