Longtime musician Frances Simpson is being remembered today both for her musical talents and for her interest in education.
Mrs. Simpson, 98, died Sunday in Boulder, Colo.
Funeral services will be at 3 p.m. Sunday at First Presbyterian Church of Greenwood. Visitation will begin at 2 p.m. Sunday in the church parlor.
Mrs. Simpson was born in Sidon on Jan. 22, 1914. She graduated from Greenwood High School and Blue Mountain College, earning degrees in music and education.
She taught high school government, economics and American history and was choral director at Greenwood High School for several years.
She married Walter “Clark” Simpson in 1937. They raised three children and were active members of North Greenwood Baptist Church. He died in 1983, and she married L.B. Jones in 1988. She and Jones worked together at Cottonlandia Museum until his death in 1994. She spent most of her life in Mississippi before moving to Florida and then to Boulder.
In addition to her contributions to her churches’ music ministries, she also played for weddings and other events around town.
Randy Clark said Mrs. Simpson, who was his high school choir director, was “just a wonderful person — always so positive and uplifting to be around.”
She played a major role in the renovation of First Presbyterian’s sanctuary and the enlarging of the organ there, said Clark, who was chairman of the committee that oversaw the renovations.
She was a talented organist, pianist and choir director and will be missed, he said.
Janie Warren, a close friend of Mrs. Simpson’s daughter, Shan, remembered Mrs. Simpson as an outstanding teacher and musician who always had many things going on at once.
“She loved having a lot of activity in her house, so it was very welcoming to go there,” Warren said.
Warren said Mrs. Simpson had a variety of talents that she used to help others — in musical activities, in spending many hours keeping Cottonlandia going and in other endeavors. She was good at motivating young people and was “a leader in whatever she did,” Warren said.
Mrs. Simpson also enjoyed traveling, having visited Europe, Japan, Australia and Israel, and even went skydiving at the age of 87.
A graveside service and reception will be held at Sidon Cemetery in Sidon, with private burial by the family following.
• Contact David Monroe at 581-7236 or dmonroe@gwcommonwealth.com.
