Obituary of Janet C. Simon

Janet Simon, 88, passed away on Saturday, February 17, 2024 at the University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics with family by her side. 

Visitation will be held 11:00 A.M. to 2:00 P.M. Thursday, February 22, 2024 at St. Joseph Catholic Church in West Liberty with funeral mass to be held immediately following at 2:00 P.M.  Burial will be in the Oak Ridge Cemetery, West Liberty.  Please join the family for a time of fellowship in the church hall immediately following the burial.

In lieu of flowers, memorial donations may be made to the Janet Simon Memorial Fund.

Janet was born February 2, 1936 to Lester Ping & Alberta (Meyers) Ping.  She graduated from West Liberty High School in 1954 as the Homecoming Queen.  Her senior yearbook had this to say about her, “Black haired beauty, brown eyed gal, quite a looker and a pal.”  In addition to being “a looker,” she was one heck of a basketball player, taking her team to the state tournament.  On August 27, 1954, she was united in marriage to John “Jack” Simon.  They farmed and raised their family north of West Liberty.

In Janet fashion, she left a list of things that she wanted us to make sure to say.  She was a member of the St. Joseph Catholic Church, American Legion Auxiliary, and the Red Hats.  She worked for a short time after high school at the Iowa City Press-Citizen.  Her real jobs were the following:  farmhand, housewife, cook, taxi driver, nurse, gardener, secretary, bookkeeper, and babysitter of grandkids and Jack.  We think she was best known for her delicious and perfectly round chocolate chip cookies and her strong opinions about what brands we could buy her from the grocery store.  According to her note, the most important thing to her was watching her children and grandchildren grow into wonderful people and watching them participate in their activities at school.  She loved the Iowa Hawkeyes, General Hospital, Diet Pepsi, ice cream, donuts from Fareway, and Skippy Reduced Fat Peanut Butter.

Janet will be deeply missed by her four children: Steven (Keely) Simon, Jacqueline Tompkins, Jerry (Brenda) Simon and Shawna (Kevin) Mueller.  She is also survived by eleven grandchildren: Stephanie, Shane, Amber, Heather, Megan, Shari, Kennedi, Cassedi, Madeline, Tanner, Hallie, and 13 great grandchildren.  She also leaves behind her bestie, Donna Fae Sterner, and the extended Simon clan.  She was preceded in death by Jack, her parents, stepfather Richard Peters, brother Richard Ping and son-in-law Mark Tompkins.