Pride of Searcy
Longtime Lions Club member receives historic award
Meeting Bob Simpson is like meeting a force of nature. A trim, white-haired man with a face well-worn by his smiles and laughter over 91 years, his long and blessed life is anchored at the corners by family, faith, honest work and commitment to the community through the Searcy Lions Club, of which he has been a member for nearly 50 years.
Now the Lions Club has honored Simpson with a historic recognition, Lion of the Decade, presented in June. According to Cheri Yecke, club past president, who handed Simpson his plaque, it’s the first time in the nearly 75-year history of the Searcy Lions Club that a member has been so recognized.
“Bob is really indispensable when it comes to his service to the Lions Club because he’s been associated with Lionism for so long,” Yecke said. “He cares very much about this community.”
Simpson started life on a farm outside of Clarendon in Monroe County. Early on, he benefited from strong role models in his parents, and he carried that example forward as the eldest of three kids.
“My dad, Clyde Simpson, worked for Monroe County, then had a labor job,” Bob Simpson said. “My dad had polio when he was a child, so life was very difficult for him. He had a wonderful partner by the name of Winnie Simpson — you bet. That gal could farm; let me tell you. We had Victory Gardens before they were named Victory Gardens.”
Moving into town as a teenager, Simpson graduated from Clarendon High School and landed with Arkansas Power & Light Co., now Entergy. In time, he’d become an electrical engineer, receiving his schooling by correspondence courses
through the International Correspondence Schools of Scranton, Pennsylvania. “I studied there for, I guess, nine years and finally finished a curriculum of electrical-engineering courses,” he said. “Then I sat for the professional-engineer exam, and I led my class in that exam.” Simpson’s job took him to multiple locations in Arkansas, with him finally landing in Searcy in 1975. There, he and his wife, Margie, now deceased, raised three daughters, and he devoted most of his spare time to helping others through community involvement. “When I moved to Searcy, I was looking for a place to serve,” he said. “I noticed the unity in the Lions Club organization, the camaraderie, and it still exists today.” Over the decades, Simpson distinguished himself through club activities, held every club office except treasurer and, in 1992, served as council chairman for Multiple District 7. He’s probably best known as the Searcy club’s secretary, a post he held for 25 years, as noted on his Lion of the Decade plaque. He said that what kept him in the group so long was the work the Lions Club did to assist people who had sight issues and couldn’t otherwise afford treatment.
“We furnish eyeglasses to somewhere around 100 folks every year in this area, and that’s a lot of eyeglasses for this size of club,” he said. “We own an eye bank in Little Rock; it’s called Lions Eye Bank and Laboratory. It’s part of the [University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences] Medical Center, and we can send folks over there and get their eyes corrected, to get transplants. “I can recall in the late 1990s, we had a baby who was born blind in White County around the El Paso area. We [sponsored] three transplants on that child, and now he has some vision. That’s just one of our projects.” Yecke said Simpson’s work with the club’s various programs also includes collecting eyeglasses for distribution overseas via church missions and processing the average 150 applications from people seeking eye-care assistance locally. In addition, he’s a fixture at Lions Club annual fundraisers. “He’s one of those seniors who has not let his age get in the way of his volunteer activities,” she said. “For 91 years old, he is extremely active and totally committed to the club and to the issue of helping the community.” “Bob’s a good guy, and he’s always served faithfully, taking care of our Lions sight-conservation services,” said Alan Edwards, current club president. “He’s our connector to what once was, and bringing it forward to today to help us better see the goals of the club as a whole.” In addition to his Lions Club tenure, Simpson is a deacon and longtime volunteer at First Baptist Church in town, the mere mention of which lights up his voice with zeal.
He sees service to the church and service to the community as two sides of the same satisfying coin. More than anything, he likes to share both with as many people as possible. “I’d like to take this opportunity to invite folks to come visit the Lions Club. We meet at Western Sizzlin at noon Tuesdays,” he said. “I’d like to invite them to come be my guest for a meal and listen to me for a spell, perhaps to invite them to Lions service. It’s a service that’s needed badly in our community. “And, I’d ask people to consider making a contribution to our sight services for the needy in Searcy and White counties. I don’t think they could get a better feeling about themselves and their contribution. They’d feel about like they went to church, you know, and they were leading the choir!”