Josephine Anne Simone

It is with heavy heart we announce the passing of our Mother, Josephine (Jo) Anne Simone, on December 24, 2025. Jo was born in Woburn, Massachusetts on June 9th, 1936 into a large Italian family. To know Jo - Josie to her closest friends - was to know that she loved music and singing. Her earliest and fondest memories were of standing around a piano with her friends and siblings, harmonizing to the songs of the era. Her brother, professional singer Guy Rotondo, would go on to become a regional celebrity in the Boston area and occasionally appear on the Merv Griffin Show.

She survived her brothers Guy, Tony, and Jack and is survived by her sister Elaine.

In 1957, on a fateful day in a local pizza parlor, she would be brought face to face with her avowed soulmate, Sam Simone. One date was all it took for her to know that this was the man she wanted to spend the rest of her life with. They married in February of 1958 and shortly after, moved to Seattle - raising 4 children: Judy, Steve, Jim, and Jennifer. They were married for 63 wonderful years until Sam’s passing in 2021.

In the late 60’s, she opted to go back to work and (much to the embarrassment of her children!) began working at the elementary school they were attending at the time. This would be the start of her 26 year career with Seattle Public Schools.

Jo - our Mother - loved many things. Bowling, playing cards, going to casinos. She loved planning family gatherings, baking (an art she absolutely mastered), trying out different breakfast restaurants, and going to live theater with Sam. There was also her obsessive collection of wooden holiday nutcrackers - a collection that would only be broken up when she would bestow one to a new member of our growing family.

She spent much of her retired time volunteering at Saint Paul Catholic Church where she was a long time parishioner, and maintained a strong commitment to serving on neighborhood committees, as well as being an avid advocate for neighborhood cleanliness.

Mom absolutely relished being a wife and a mother and never stopped caring for her family. This proud matriarch would ultimately be responsible for the aforementioned 4 children, 7 grandchildren, and 11 great-grandchildren.

She asked that in remembrance, you please go out and do random acts of kindness… And pick up that piece of litter while you're at it.