Harriet T. Simpkins

Harriet Thomson Simpkins Boca Raton, FL Beloved mother of William L. Simpkins, Jr., Joe Kelly Simpkins and Ann Edwards died February 7, 2011, at the age of 86 in Boca Raton, Florida. Born May 12, 1924 in Adams, Tennessee to J. Ben Thomson and Elizabeth Drake Thomson, she graduated from Ashland City High School and attended University of Tennessee Junior College, Martin, Tennessee for two years. As a young woman, Harriet was a county beauty queen and in her 40's modeled in the San Francisco Bay Area. The summer between her Freshman and Sophomore year in college, Harriet traveled to Washington, DC, where she was a typist in 1942 to help the World War II effort. While living in Scottsdale, Arizona in the 1970's, Harriet had her Real Estate License and worked for Hal Rich Realty. Harriet was married to an American Airlines pilot, William L. Simpkins, for 61 years before his passing in June, 2005. She became a pilot at age 21 and flew for their small airport operation in Springfield, Tennessee. Her brothers, Joe Ben Thomson, Jr. (deceased 2005) and John Drake Thomson, both were pilots for the US Armed Services. An additional brother, Marvin Harris Thomson, is a retired CPA. Also surviving Harriet are four Grandchildren, Stacy and Brian Simpkins, Kelly Rutherford and Anthony Deane; and two Great-Grandchildren, Hermes and Helena Rutherford Geirsch. Mrs. Simpkins lived in Ashland City and Nashville, Tennessee; Redondo Beach, Los Altos and Vista, California; Scottsdale, Arizona; Melbourne and Boca Raton, Florida. She enjoyed family and friends, bible study, writing poetry, climbing trees, hiking, body surfing, volleyball, tennis and golf. Harriet and William were members of Suntree Country Club and later Rockledge Country Club. She and her husband moved to the Melbourne area for a time to be close to relatives, Mrs and Mrs. Bernard Simpkins of Cocoa, Florida. All will miss her coconut cake, deep dish peach pie, sweet smile, soft touch and beautiful soul. Modest, kind and gracious, Harriet was a great Christian disciple of Jesus Christ and a wonderful example to her family and all who knew her.