Wayne Peter Simoni

Wayne Peter Simoni, 68, passed peacefully in his West Hills home on September 14th, 2021. He is survived by his wife Cindy and two daughters, Alexandra and Natalie. After a long battle with Lewy Body Dementia, he is now at peace.

Wayne was born on October 12, 1952 in Honolulu Hawaii to Helen Ino (Brunkhorst) Simoni and Joseph Peter Simoni. Wayne idolized his older brother Donald. They spent their early years in Hawaii attending school where shirts and shoes were optional, creating an easy going demeanor in Wayne that we all love.

Over the years they would travel by plane, ship and finally by jet to the mainland to purchase a new car then drive it to the port of call for shipment back to the island. It is here his love of planes, trains, and automobiles started and would spawn a career as a mechanic and engineer.

In 1962 the Simoni family relocated to San Francisco where Wayne made a number of lifelong friends in their small Italian section of the Marina District. While Don spent his free time fishing, Wayne would spend his days playing basketball on the school yard. The two stayed very close throughout their lives, and Wayne took mischievous joy in telling “bought the farm” jokes when his brother bought an actual farm.

Wayne learned to hunt pheasants at a young age as a member of his uncle’s duck club. He passed along his skills in hunting and mechanics to his daughters; it was a point of great pride that his daughters could shoot skeet and change a tire.

Wayne spent childhood summers working on the family orchards with Don and their cousin Larry driving tractors and blowing up old stumps. He bought his first street motorcycle at 15 and discovered a passion for auto mechanics while working at the local gas station. He would spend most Sundays riding motorcycles with friends in the Mojave desert. His skillful maneuvering of his bike over valleys and hills kept many riders in awe. Although it became difficult to ride later in life, he maintained his motorcycle grip to the end.

His mother insisted he attend college and enrolled him at Northrop University to get his FAA Aircraft Mechanic Certification. He completed his Avionics Certification followed by his Bachelor’s degree in Electrical Engineering in 1974.

His first job out of college was with Hughes Aircraft Company (HAC) as part of the Hughes Fellowship Program. He attended USC on scholarship and received his master’s degree in 1977. Hughes Aircraft merged with Raytheon in 1997 and Wayne worked at Raytheon until his retirement in 2011.

Wayne’s modest brilliance left a mark on his many colleagues. It was no secret around HAC that if you wanted your design to be successful it needed “Simoni’s blessing”. But Wayne never let that go to his head. He would happily work with everyone, and he would say “let’s figure out how to make this work”. Wayne’s dry sense of humor left friends laughing till it hurt at many a work lunch. How many people do you know would order french fries by requesting “deep fried dihedral cut starch units with membrane?” An engineer, true and true.

When the company needed a new electronic communication protocol for all missile’s they quickly recruited Wayne and the result was the famous “Simoni Bus”. When new employees heard of the Simoni Bus they wanted to meet the acclaimed Simoni. Wayne participated in so many amazing technical designs but if we told you about them in his words: “we’d have to kill you!”

Throughout his tenure with HAC and Raytheon he would work nights lending expertise to companies like Allen Osborne and Associates Inc., Multilink, Venstar, and Spectron Audio. Wayne contributed to numerous patents involving digital communication and design. His style was described beautifully by a former colleague: “Wayne would sit and listen to an exceptionally complex algorithm description, take no notes, and come back with an elegant design that implemented it perfectly. He was the finest digital designer I ever met.”

Wayne always said the best part of working at HAC was meeting his co-worker, soulmate, and loving wife, Cindy Pietropaolo. They met in 1979, and were married in January of 1982. Cindy was the opposite of Wayne in almost every way: short, brunette, and extroverted. Their personalities perfectly complemented each other, and many former coworkers take pride in bringing them together.

He loved Texas style barbeque, mogul skiing, weekly dinner and movie dates with close friends, but his biggest love was his family. Wayne loved being a father. At large parties he could always be found playing games with the kids rather than drinking wine, or playing cards with the adults. He taught his girls to ride bikes, mow the lawn, and how to fix anything with a screwdriver and a pair of pliers. He ensured his daughters’ terrible artwork was displayed prominently at his desk, and would say the best part of the day was grilling T-bones and eating dinner with his three girls. He loved taking them on camping trips in California, houseboating trips on Lake Powell, skiing in the Sierras, driving to see family in San Francisco, and touring his home island of Oahu. He adored his wife, and loved being a father and grandfather.

He is survived by his wife, Cindy; daughters, Alexandra Simoni Mitchell and Natalie Simoni; son-in-law, Andrew Mitchell; grandchildren, Elliot and Avery Mitchell; brother, Donald Simoni; and numerous cousins. He was preceded in death by his parents Joseph and Helen Simoni.

A Mass to celebrate the life of Wayne Simoni will be held on October 16th at 10am at Saint Bernardine of Siena Church, 24410 Calvert St., Woodland Hills, CA 91367 (masks are required in the worship space).Reception to follow at the Simoni home in West Hills.

Out of respect for the family, we ask all friends and family who are unvaccinated or feeling under the weather to have a negative COVID-19 PCR test taken within 72 hours before arriving at the Simoni home. The Mass and reception will be accessible on zoom. Please contact [email protected] for more information and to share memories of our wonderful Wayne.

In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to the Lewy Body Dementia Association in Wayne’s name. Thank you to all the family and friends who have supported our family through this difficult journey. His smile, his sense of humor, and his wisdom will be greatly missed. He will be in our hearts forever.