Teacher, museum docent, bridge master
JEAN BUSIS SIMON | July 26, 1926 - Oct. 16, 2022
A longtime elementary school teacher at Pittsburgh Public Schools and former docent at the Carnegie Museum of Natural History, Jean Simon was a spirited soul who lived a life brimming with good humor and gratitude.
She moved to a retirement community in Sarasota, Fla., 10 years ago, but she didn’t let that slow her down.
In fact, Mrs. Simon continued dating well into her 90s.
“She was a very social person with a fabulous sense of humor,” said her son Kenneth Simon, of Washington, D.C. “She was a schmoozer and made friends easily.”
A former resident of Squirrel Hill and Oakland, Mrs. Simon died at her Sarasota home Oct. 16 of complications from heart failure and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. She was 96.
She was a native of East Liberty, where her father, a Russian immigrant and pharmacist, opened the Stanton-Negley Drug Co., a pharmacy that’s still in business at the corner of Stanton and Negley avenues on the Highland Park border.
Their family home was across the street.
As a girl, Mrs. Simon, nee Busis, grew up at a time when career choices for women were limited, so she decided to become a teacher.
“Her granddaughter asked her what she would do if that was today and she said, ‘I’d be a boss!’ ” her son recalled.
At a ball given every year by Jewish pharmacists and health care professionals, she met Harvey Simon, a World War II veteran.
The couple married in 1948. After her graduation from Peabody High School, Mrs. Simon earned a bachelor’s degree in education from the University of Pittsburgh.
When her three sons started school, Mrs. Simon herself returned to the halls of academia, obtaining a master’s degree in education from Pitt.
For more than 25 years, she taught kindergarten, along with first and second grade, at neighborhood elementary schools, like Liberty, Fulton, and Davis.
“She loved teaching; she loved her students,” her son said.
When she retired in 1987, Mrs. Simon found a passion for dinosaurs and began volunteering as a docent at the Carnegie Museum of Natural History, leading student tours.
She also volunteered as a tour guide at the Biblical Botanical Garden at Rodef Shalom and later at Selby Gardens, when she lived in Sarasota.
“She knew an awful lot about plants,” her son said. “She gardened and arranged flowers.”
For his mother, volunteering was more than just a way to fill the time, Mr. Simon said.
“She felt it was her duty to volunteer and contribute to her community,” he said. “It was just part of her ethic that one should contribute in that way.”
Retirement also gave Mrs. Simon and her husband more time to enjoy one of their favorite activities — travel.
“I found this little notebook she had that listed every trip she took from 1972 to 2012,” her son said. “She visited nearly every state and took 27 trips to 40 countries. She loved to go everywhere.”
“When we were kids, Dad took a month off and we drove to California and we went to the World’s Fair in New York in 1964,” he recalled. “Every summer, we went to a beach or lake.”
Mr. and Mrs. Simon began spending winters in Florida and several years after he died in 2000, she met Sidney Simon, who became a travel and life companion until his death in 2018.
“They went to everything together — the theater, ballet, symphonies and lectures,” her son said. “They both loved to learn new things.”
Mrs. Simon was also a wizard at bridge and mahjong throughout her adult life, her son said.
“She loved bridge — she was a very good bridge player,” he said.
“She would play in tournaments and eventually became a ‘ Life Master.’ ”
Mrs. Simon visited and hosted her family frequently and loved parties and outings.
“We called her the ‘ Energizer Bunny,’ ” said her daughter-in-law, Janet Hahn, who is married to Ken Simon. “About 10 years ago, she said, ‘I’m getting tired and my life is so busy, so I’ve decided to cut back and drop my third theater subscription. But, I’ll continue water aerobics, my book club, playing bridge and mahjong a couple of times a week and the ballet.’ She went out pretty much every night. She was a fantastic motherin-law. She loved us and we adored her.”
Mrs. Simon’s secret to a long and happy life seemed simple: variety, keeping active — and of course, love.
“Her caretakers at the retirement community wrote a eulogy for her that my wife read at the service,” her son said. “One of them told a story about how she recently met a man in the dining hall who she didn’t know. She started a conversation with him, while sitting in her wheelchair. Within a few minutes, not only did she have his phone number but she had a date!
“We’ve decided to have a memorial service later at the retirement community and she told us that the only thing she wanted was, ‘Good food and a full bar.’ ”
Along with her son Ken, Mrs. Simon is survived by her sons Edward, of Oakmont, and Donald, of Squirrel Hill; three grandchildren; and four great-grandchildren.
She was preceded in death by her brother Sidney Busis.
Her funeral was Thursday.
In lieu of flowers, contributions in Jean’s memory may be made to Rodef Shalom’s Biblical Garden, Hadassah, or the Plymouth Harbor Foundation.