Phil C. Simon was born in the front, upstairs bedroom of his father’s house at the head of the Langley dock (203 Wharf Street – little blue house still standing and occupied). He was the only son of G. Philip Simon and Anna Eyrish Simon, both of whom grew up on the Key Peninsula in South Puget Sound in the late 1800s. He had two older sisters (Evelyn 1910 and Eleanor 1914). In the early years, the house was filled with music and joy as both his sisters played piano, sang and coddled their little brother.
He learned the value and satisfaction of hard work and the ways of a marine life from his father. Often, he would go with “Pops,” as he called him, on his daily trips from Langley to Everett in his double-ended launch “Caprice” which he had built to pick up the Seattle Post-Intelligencer for distribution around the South End. Once the Deception Pass Bridge was built, he sometimes rode with him to Mount Vernon to pick up the P-I and drop copies off at distribution points down the island. He also helped his father around his Sea Breeze tavern (head of the dock), handling freight for his marine hauling/charter business and greeting visitors to the dock. There was also plenty of time for fishing and clam digging. When he was 14, his father was forced off the road on one of his early morning trips to Mount Vernon and broke his leg. He got a provisional early driver’s license and took over his father’s daily job driving up north and distributing the papers for several months. A younger old-timer once told me that he was impressed and excited when dad came sliding around the corner by his house with gravel flying on his way down the island delivering papers.
His father also owned and operated a power system with wires all the way to Bayview and Clinton. The lights were on from 6 a.m. to 9 p.m., with the generator located at the waterfront across from the house. It was also his job to start the generator in the morning before clamoring up the hill to school. He once told me that the kids at school teased him because he smelled like diesel when got there. This idyllic life was marred when his sister Evelyn passed when he was just 10 and his mother when he was 16.
Dad was active in high school as part of the basketball team and played tennis at the state level. He graduated from Langley High School in 1941 (25 students in the class). Like most island kids he was on the first boat to “America” after graduation looking for opportunity and adventure. It was also to follow his high school sweetheart Dolores Skarberg who was born and grew up in Clinton and had graduated the year before as valedictorian. His first job was busting tires at a gas station on the Seattle waterfront. Mom and Dad were married on Jan. 1, 1942. During the war, Dad worked at Boeing, first as a parts expediter for the B-17 and later as a recruiter for assembly mechanics to build B-29s traveling throughout the Midwest and South. His bride worked for the War Department preparing shipping documents and orders for troops based in Alaska.
After the war, Dad first sold furs (Dolores modeled them in newspaper ads) and then became a life insurance salesman. He eventually became the Seattle district manager for Prudential and then a regional vice president for Northwestern Mutual Life. The family grew with the addition of two sons (Philip D. in 1947 and Richmond in 1951). In those years, he took his tight-knit family on many adventures. In the early 50s, as a toddler, along with my baby brother, I was taken to Yellowstone, Yosemite and the Redwoods in a home-built plywood camping trailer towed by a 49 Hudson Hornet. One particularly memorable trip involved a boat trip. He had a several month training assignment at the Prudential office in Los Angeles. So naturally he towed his 17-foot plywood cuddy cabin runabout (a Bryant Corsair built in Seattle, of course) to explore new waters. One day, with a baby, a toddler and his wife, he launched at Long Beach and headed to Catalina Island in the fog. With only a magnetic compass we made it — now that is a mariner! Throughout the rest of the 50s and early 60s we cruised all over Puget Sound and Canadian waters as far north as Campbell River in a 1923 38-foot Shane (also built in Seattle) as he taught his sons the love of the sea and mariners skills by example.
In 1967, Northwestern Life was purchased by a larger corporation and Dad was offered a promotion that required a move to the L.A. headquarters. He thought about moving away from his sons and to a location that he had not been impressed with. He decided to quit the insurance business and stay in the Northwest. His oldest son had finished high school and had been sent out of the nest and the younger son to follow. As a self-described “boat nut,” it was time for a new chapter. He formed Northwest Marine Charters located on Westlake Avenue. For the next two decades, he and Dolores built the brokerage to where they eventually represented close to 200 U-drive and skippered boat owners with vessels from 19 feet to over 150 feet. He obtained a U.S. Coast Guard pilot’s license and skippered several high-profile clients on cruises as far as Alaska. In 1985, he sold the business so he and his wife could retire and travel even wider and cruise the world. Unfortunately, mom passed in January 1986.
Dad, as in the past, rebounded from a tragic loss. He somehow got involved in a cruise ship program where a charming widower who liked to dance was offered deep-discounted fares and an open bar tab on ocean cruises. He traveled to the Orient, Mexico and the Caribbean on this program. One such trip (the Love Boat, Island Princess, believe it or not) he met his second wife, Norma Dennis. They were married in 1988 and enjoyed 26 years of retirement together until she passed in 2014.
Dad was not only about adventure and self-advancement. He believed in community. He was a Seafair Commodore, a group of Seattle business men whose purpose is to promote the city and raise funds for Seafair events. He was commandant in 1962, the year of Seattle’s Worlds Fair. In 1976, he convinced his sons that the family should give our family waterfront and launching ramp to the City of Langley for public use in memory of his father (now owned by the Port of South Whidbey). A few years later, as board member of the Northwest Marine Industry Association, he helped secure funding from the Washington state transient boats tax fund to build the Langley Marina dock upgrade.
Most importantly, Dad was an excellent provider and role model. He taught by example and led by clear and direct instruction. He told his sons exactly what and when to do it. There was no discussion of why, never a lecture and not once did he spank them. It was clear what we were to do and we did it. He rarely showed emotion or affection – likely a carryover from his childhood losses. He was a man of the times and it was his wife’s job to nurture and raise the children. But whenever each of his sons ever got up enough nerve to ask for help, he was immediately there with support. Even if it involved money, a loan was there with little required explanation. It was expected to be and was always paid back at 7 percent interest. A life lesson that served his sons well as both ended up independent and successful.
Dad spent the last few years in a nursing home as a result of brain damage from a fall. He adapted, as he always did, had seemed content. He never lost his salesman’s ability to charm folks, particularly women, when he wanted something. He had all the nurses charmed and talking about him when I visited. One particular story they related to me involved an issue about bathing. Apparently, he did not like the bathing schedule they had prescribed. He told them “My entire life I have done exactly what I wanted to do. I am not going to change that now.” His bathing schedule was changed to his wishes.
A long, well-lived life. Thank you, Dad, for all the things you taught and gave me.
Phil is survived by his son Philip D. Simon and daughter-in-law Judy Simon, of Freeland, granddaughter Amie Simon, of Seattle, and daughter-in-law Kriss Higginbotham Simon, of Clearview. His remains will be buried in the family plot next to his father, mother and sisters at Bayview Cemetery.
