Carl L. Simons' Obituary
Carl L. Simons, 91, passed away on November 13, 2022. His health was in decline and when he got Covid, he wasn’t able to recover. He passed peacefully in hospice in Palm Coast, Florida with family at his side.
Carl was born in Colon, Republic of Panama, on June 29, 1931, to the late Leopold and Cora (Lindo) Simons. He graduated from Cristobal High School in 1951, where he played football, baseball, softball (all-star), and basketball (all-star). He was also on the track team (all-star) and swim team. He was president of the Varsity Club his senior year and was named “A courteous fellow,” which indeed he was. Carl is well-remembered for his unique fast-pitch when pitching for the softball games in the Canal Zone.
He met his wife-to-be, Concetta (Tita) Rosa Pizzino, in Colon. Despite the fact that Carl wasn’t Italian, didn’t like pasta, and didn’t drink wine, he was able to win over Tita’s Italian family and marry her on June 17, 1956. They had four children and were married for 66 years.
After high school, Carl entered the Panama Canal Company Apprenticeship program and worked for PCC until 1983, when he retired as General Foreman for Public works, Maintenance Division. Once he retired, he and Tita moved to Florida, initially to Miramar, then to Pembroke Pines, and finally to assisted living in Palm Coast, FL.
While at Pembroke Pines, Carl took up table tennis and got really good at it! We love telling the story of when he came to visit his daughter in Tallahassee and arrangements were made for him to practice table tennis with the FSU table tennis group. He entered the room where the young 20-year-olds were practicing, and we could tell they were sneering at the “old man” who wanted to practice with them. (Carl was well into his sixties at that time.) As a “courtesy,” they “allowed” him to play. Lo and behold, he beat every single one of them! And even with several tables available for use, all the FSU players stood in single file waiting their turn to play Carl. After playing for several hours, he humbly thanked them for “allowing” him to play with them – but when we got in the car, he grinned and said, “Piece of cake!”
Carl traveled all over the United States to play in table tennis tournaments and participated in the US Table Tennis Open Senior Olympics. He won many trophies. Carl had a beautiful singing voice, but no one except the immediate family knew it since he sang only to Tita and his kids. He especially loved to sing songs from Broadway musicals introduced to him by his late brother, Trevor Simons. “My Fair Lady” and “Hello Dolly” were two of his favorites.
Carl is survived by his wife of 66 years, Concetta (Tita); his only surviving sibling (out of seven) Merle Harrington of Delaware; his four children: Katherine Heddaeus (Mark) of Tallahassee, Elizabeth “Liz” Grafe (Ken) of Palm Coast, Jeannette Perry (Mike) of Juno Beach, Donald Simons of Hollywood, Florida. He is also survived by five grandchildren: Jillian Heddaeus, Kenny Grafe (Amy), Lisamarie Kush (Brandon), William Viteri (Adriana) and Christopher Simons. He is survived by three great grandchildren: Hailey Grafe, Lucas Viteri, Camila Viteri. A private family celebration of his life will be held in 2023.
Heritage Funeral and Cremation Service of Bunnell, FL assisted the family with arrangements.
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