Larry Simons

Lawrence “Larry” Simons, of Mukwonago passed away on November 22nd, 2021 at the age of 91.  Larry was born in Red Mound, Wisconsin on March 22, 1930 to Peter and Agnes (Dwyer) Simons.  He attended elementary school in Viroqua and went on to graduate from LaCrosse Aquinas High School in 1948. Larry served in the US ARMY in Korea from 1951-1953 as an instructor for basic education and also as a volunteer tutor to Korean High School students in Inchon, Korea. As Larry left Korea, he decided to sponsor one of his Korean language students-Joe Choi. Larry assisted Joe to move to Wisconsin and graduate from UW-LaCrosse with a degree in French. Joe eventually accepted an arranged marriage by his parents in Korea but became an important member of the Simons family.  Larry graduated from UW-LaCrosse with a degree in secondary education in 1956.

Larry worked as a high school Speech and English teacher in Mosinee, Wisconsin for 11 years where he served as advisor for many school activities- National Honor Society, Forensics, Student Council and AFS. It was in Mosinee where Larry met the lovely Edith Haas who was also teaching English and Math.  One day, Larry hid her grade book and she got in big trouble for losing it. It was true love and they married on August 3rd, 1968.

During the summer of 1965, Larry taught English as a second language to the migrant workers in central Wisconsin within the Waupaca area.  In 1967, Larry moved to Kettle Moraine High School in Wales, Wisconsin where he taught Speech and English for the next 26 years.  Larry was again leading the National Honor Society, Forensics, Student Council and AFS.  Larry retired from teaching in 1993.

After retirement, Larry served as the manager for ERDT foreign exchange program for 7 years. The Simons family hosted students from Brazil and Italy throughout the years and enjoyed communicating with, and visiting those students in their home countries. Larry was a long time member of the Whitewater Gourmet Club and did much volunteer work for Interfaith and Waukesha County where he assisted with the Meals on Wheels program and youth guardianship programs.  For 8 years, Larry enjoyed being the guardian for a special needs student who kept Larry very busy. Larry was also a devoted member of the Mukwonago Optimist Club for many years.

Larry was a member of the Stars and Stripes Honor Flight in June of 2017 and enjoyed a day as a true VIP in Washington, DC.  He cherished the experience and often re-read letters from his friends and family given during “mail call” on the airplane.

Travel was an important part of his life taking his family all over the United States each summer in the family station wagon and trading their timeshare for exotic locations each year.  Larry was an avid reader and loved to spend time with his family. 

Larry is preceeded in death by his brother Frank Simons and sister, Margaret Finn.  Larry was deeply loved and will be missed terribly by his wife, Edie, of 53 years and his 3 children, Matt Simons (Helen), Gina Minamyer, and Kat Hammond (Dimitrice) and grandchildren Annabel, Sam, Erinn and Logan.  Funeral services will take place at St. James Catholic Church in Mukwonago at 2:30 pm on December 6th.

Dad will be forever loved and missed by his family and friends, as well as the hundreds of young people whose lives he impacted as a teacher, coach and advisor. Please share a message, a memory, an anecdote or a photo, illustrating a moment of his life that you remember fondly.