Individual Notes
Note for:   Patrick Duffield Simpson,   29 Oct 1938 -          Index

Baptism:   
     Date:   8 Sep 1974
     Place:   Belair Baptist Church, Bowie Maryland

Occupation:   
     Date:   Advisory Information Developer
     Place:   IBM

Religion:   

Individual Note:
     CLOSE-UP: Patrick retired from IBM an Advisory Information Developer on October 31, 1993. He graduated from Sidney Central High School in 1956 and attended Hartwick College in Oneonta, NY on a NY State Regents scholarship. He married Anne Roberta Budine, from Otego, NY on March 26, 1960, and they had four children; David, Patricia, Diana, and Thomas. He graduated from a 5-year toolmaker apprenticeship from Bendix Corp. in Sidney in 1967 and went to work for IBM in Endicott, NY.
        On 24 Mar 1974, Patrick became a Christian in Chicago's Moody Church. Pastor David Cooper, from Belair Baptist Church, Bowie, Maryland, baptized him on 8 Sep 1974.
        As IBMers, they lived in: Bowie, MD; Boca Raton, FL; Raleigh, NC; Poughkeepsie, NY; and back to Raleigh, NC where Patrick retired. Pat and Anne took a nine-month trip around the world in 1994 and he wrote two books about it: Wheelchair Around the World and Wheelchair Down Under. He also wrote Whither Thou Goest, about his ancestors who went west in 1878 in a wagon train.
        Anne died in 2006 and Patrick remarried in 2008 to Betsy Virginia Purcell, a fellow worshipper at Westminster Presbyterian Church in Raleigh, NC. They honeymooned with a Christian tour group in Israel. After Patrick sold his house and Betsy left her residence at Whitaker Glen, they moved into Raleigh's Wedgwood Apartments.

Individual Notes
Note for:   Raymond Taylor Simpson,   25 Mar 1902 - 4 Aug 1971         Index

Individual Note:
     BIRTH: From Baby's Red Letter Days baby book: Raymond was born at 8 p.m. March 25, 1902. His parents were Jay C. Simpson and Mary A. Simpson and lived on Depot Street in Sidney Center. The physician was Dr. S... P. Cornell and the nurse was Julia A. Evans.
        From Aunt Nettie Simpson's diary for March 25,1902: "Pa and Ma's anniversary. A boy arrived at Jay's at 2 o'clock this morning. Weighs 10 pounds. Bernice here.
        BIOGRAPHY: Raymond was married to Ethel ????? in NYC (no children) before he married Alma Duffield around 1937. They were divorced in 1945. Social Security Number 098-01-6779.
        OBITUARY: From the Sidney Tri-Town News, Aug 11, 1971: Endwell, NY-Raymond T. Simpson, 69, of Endwell, died on Wednesday, August 4, 1971, at his home, 108 Hooper Road, after a long illness. Funeral services were held at 10:30 a.m., Saturday, August 7, at the Joyce Funeral Home, Unadilla. The Rev. George E. Youngs officiated. Burial was in Highland Hills Cemetery, Sidney Center. Mr. Simpson was born March 25, 1902, at Sidney Center, the son of Jay and Mary (Shaw) Simpson. He had been a resident of Endwell for the past year. He form­erly resided in the Sidney area, where he had worked as a se­curity guard at Bendix. Mr. Simpson was a member of the Masonic Lodge No. 324 at Sidney, and the Sidney Methodist Church. He is survived by a son, Pat­rick D. Simpson of Endwell; six grandchildren and nephews. Bearers: James Stilson, Willard Howe, Robert Young, George Darrin (Mason), Frank Merrill (Mason).

Individual Notes
Note for:   Alma Henderson Duffield,   17 Dec 1907 - 29 May 2003         Index

Individual Note:
     OBITUARY: Alma Duffield Ready, 95, died after a short illness on Thursday, May 29, 2003 at Holy Cross Hospital in Nogales, Arizona, where she has been a patient for the last few years.
        Alma, an only child, was born in Cedarville, New Jersey on December 17, 1907 to Philip and Ada (Henderson) Duffield. At the age of 14 she was already an accomplished organist and once played for the church choir when it was invited to sing on the air 120 miles away at a Philadelphia radio station. Later, she graduated from New Jersey State College at Glassboro, where she studied to be a teacher and played the beautiful big concert piano at morning assemblies and for the Glee Club.
        Years later, After the breakup of her first three marriages, Alma and her fourth (and last) husband Teddy moved to Arizona. She immediately fell in love with the state. She said, "To me the desert was a dream come true." After moving from Willcox to Oracle to Continental, they wound up in Tucson where both got jobs at Davis-Monthan Air Force Base. By now they were three—son Johnny had been born in 1946. Totally fascinated with the west, the family began exploring its beauty, venturing farther and farther on weekends and holidays. Johnny grew up as a prop in front of hundreds of photos. Eventually their long summer excursions became the pivot around which their lives revolved. Alma began carrying a camera and taking notes. She joined the Tucson Camera Club and began winning local photo contests.
        Her first sale was to Arizona Highways Magazine. That article was followed by another and another and then she was commissioned to do several pieces for a forthcoming issue featuring Santa Cruz County. She also began a series of picture pages for the Arizona Republic's Sunday Magazine, "Days and Ways."
        While trying to put together a portfolio of pictures of Santa Cruz County, which the family had explored so thoroughly, she learned from a Nogales librarian that, much to her surprise, the county's history had never been written. So, "to do the job right," she wrote, "I needed to live in Santa Cruz County" By now, she had discovered that she liked to write.
        In 1967 she leased an apartment in Nogales for a year and joined the local historical society. By now, son Johnny had graduated from high school in Tucson and Ted had no objections to her move. She also began a new job as Southern Arizona correspondent for the Arizona Republic, the state's largest newspaper. At the age of sixty she had started a new career, and continued writing for the paper for 14 years, approximately from 1967-1981.
        It took her six years to finish the Santa Cruz County history, "Open Range and Hidden Silver." She also wrote "Calabasas: A True Story," "A Very Small Place: Arizona's Santa Cruz County Book List," and wrote and edited the "Nogales Arizona 1880-1980 Centennial Anniversary" book. All of them are available at the Pimeria Alta Historical Society, located in their museum on 136 North Grand Avenue in Nogales.
        She attended classes in photography and conversational Spanish and became very active in the Pimeria Alta Historical Society. As Society president, she soon realized it needed a great deal of space for a museum. After learning that the old Nogales Town Hall was available, she ramrodded a successful effort to move in. Today it occupies the entire bottom floor. For two years she did a full-page photo feature each month for the local "Nogales International" newspaper.
        Alma had many friends, and was a lover of art, music, poetry, and everything Arizona. She will be deeply missed by her family and the many people whose lives she has touched over the years. About Nogales she wrote: "I have been very happy here. The country is beautiful, the 'Border Culture' fascinating, the people friendly and the climate near-perfect. This is where I feel at home."
        They say that home is where the heart is and Alma's heart indeed found a home in Nogales.
        A memorial service will be held at 4:00 pm Saturday, June 21 at the Pimeria Alta Historical Society, located in their museum on 136 North Grand Avenue in Nogales.
        Alma was preceded in death by her husband Ted, who passed away in 1986, and her son, James E. Simpson, who died in 1968. She is survived by three sons: Donald C. Flowers, of Novi, Michigan; Patrick D. Simpson, of Raleigh, North Carolina; and Johnny Ready, of Snellville, Georgia. She also leaves behind several grandchildren and great-grandchildren as well as a host of friends all over Arizona.
        Memorials may be made to the Pimeria Alta Historical Society, 136 North Grand Avenue, P.O. Box 2281, Nogales, Arizona 85628 or to Gideons International, 2900 Lebanon Road, P.O. Box 140800, Nashville, TN 37214-0800.
        ADDITIONAL NOTES: According to her son, Patrick, Alma was a freelance writer. She married Charles Cully Flowers on December 26, 1926 and had one son, Donald C. Flowers, born January, 1928. Donald is married to Geraldine Mae Halleen and lives in the Detroit area. After that, Alma married Samuel Walton in 1934 in a Philadelphia suburb (there were no children). They separated in 1937 at age 29. She married Raymond Simpson in 1937 and had 2 sons, Patrick and James, before her divorce in 1945. In July of 1946, she married John (Teddy) Ready and had one son John. Teddy died in March 1986.