Simon Yebio

Simon was born on July 14, 1979 in Goda’iti, Eritrea, to Yebio Woldeselassie and Awetash Hadgu. He was raised by his mother and stepfather Shawl Seyoum. He was the middle of five children joining his older sisters Suzi and Helen and followed by his younger brothers Matthew and Musie. The family immigrated to the United States as refugees fleeing the civil war in their home country when he was just 3 years old. Simon became very ill and almost died in his mother’s arms while fleeing. While in the Sudan, waiting to come to America, he broke his arm and was told it had to be amputated. He traveled across the world with a broken arm and went to the hospital for emergency surgery the night they arrived in America so they could save his little arm. For these and many other reasons, his mother always said he had angels watching over him. The family settled in Alexandria, Virginia where he grew up. Simon attended West Potomac High School and graduated from Bryant High School. He attended community colleges in both Virginia and California.

Shortly after graduating high school, he traveled back home to Eritrea. He spent eight months there with his beloved maternal grandmother, Letensie Mogos. He traveled the countryside making friends everywhere he went. His grandmother worried he would have no clothes to go home in because he took a bag of clothes with him every day to hand out to people. When she asked what he would do when he had no clothes left for himself, he told her that God would provide. He left Eritrea with nothing more than the clothes on his back and a bookbag.

Simon moved to Los Angeles in 1998 to work at a childhood friend’s start-up. He worked in customer service and marketing. He had many different jobs over the years, usually in the service industry where he could use his people skills.

Simon loved people. He had a way of making you feel like you were the only person in the room. He loved making people laugh and had a carefree way about him. He coined many phrases that are part of his family’s vernacular. If you’ve heard any of his siblings refer to a cute baby or child as a chunker, it’s because of Simon. He loved learning and sharing what he’d learned. He especially loved children and the elderly. He would walk through downtown LA handing out food to elderly homeless persons because they couldn’t get to the shelters. He loved his family and would talk about them with everyone. He especially loved his nephews and enjoyed making them laugh. He had a special relationship with his mother. They would spend hours on the phone together chatting like friends.

He loved playing sports and joined every team he could growing up. He enjoyed riding his bike throughout Los Angeles where he spent most of his adult life. He loved animals and especially loved his pit bull, whom he fondly named Chapito.

Simon is survived by his mother and stepfather, Awetash and Shawl Seyoum of Flint Hill, Virginia. His siblings: Suzi Yebio of Bluffdale, Utah; Helen Yebio Pena (Ruben) of Silver Spring, Maryland; Matthew Seyoum (Tricia) of Midvale, Utah; and Musie Seyoum of Provo, Utah. His nephews and niece; Dario and Harlen Pena; and Elijah and Zoey Seyoum. As well as aunts, uncles and cousins. He is preceded in death by his grandparents, uncles and aunts.

Funeral services will be held on Monday, February 26 at 10am. There will be a visitation on Saturday, February 24, from 11am to 6pm. All services will be held at the LDS Church located at 2000 George Washington Memorial Pkwy, Alexandria, Va. The interment will be at National Memorial Park at 7482 Lee Hwy, Falls Church.

Simon was full of joy and merriment and his family would like to honor him in this way. The family requests that attendees wear traditional Habesha clothes or color in lieu of black.