C Gene Simons

Clifford Gene Simons, of Delavan, WI (formally of Lake Geneva, WI) died Wednesday, June 10, 2015 at Lakeland Health Care Center. Gene was born in Portland, Indiana in 1936 to Clifford D. and Mary M. Simons. He and his three brothers grew up on the family farm where Gene's passion for agriculture and farming took root. In addition to the typical farm responsibilities he was active in 4-H. After attending Portland High School, Gene attended Purdue University where he graduated with a B.S. in Agricultural Engineering in 1959. During his college years he was an active Brother of the Alpha Chi Rho fraternity and served in the ROTC. In 1958 Gene and Oneida Greer married. Together they had three daughters, Gina, Joni and Dana, and son, Ryan. Early family life began with the births of Gina and Joni, while living in Tipton, Indiana where Gene worked as a Project Engineer for FMC Corporation from 1959 - 1961. In 1961 they moved to Delavan, WI when Gene took a Project Engineer position at Sta-Rite Industries. Within two years he was promoted to Chief Engineer, was granted 18 patents for his engineering design work, and was ultimately promoted to Vice President and General Manager of the Dairy and Food Equipment Division. It was also during this time that Dana and Ryan were born, expanding the Simons family. In 1975 Gene left Sta-Rite to join J.I. Case as Manager of World-Wide Engineering Operations. During his tenure at J.I. Case he oversaw the merger of David Brown tractor in Europe, amongst other management responsibilities. This experience served him well for future management and entrepreneurial positons in his career life, where he went on to serve as Vice President and General Manager at Mueller Co., Marketing Manager at Liquid Carbonic, and ultimately to own his own company, Vortron. After selling Vortron, Gene shifted gears and became a successful Real Estate Broker with Re/Max Geneva Reality, Ltd. until 2005. In 1973 Gene married Lynn Zimmerman of Delavan. Shortly after being married they moved to Lake Geneva, WI with Lynn's three children Amy, Nate and Noel and into the house he named Eagle's Nest. His extended family enjoy many happy memories of boat rides, water skiing, walking the lake shore path, family gatherings and weddings, as well as his penchant for assigning everyone a nickname, playing practical jokes, and occasionally telling the off-color joke he heard at his barbershop. We hold indelible images of Gene mowing the yard on his J.I. Case tractor, eating corn on the cob at the Linn Township Annual Pig Roast, and pie and ice cream at the Linn Presbyterian Ice Cream Social, where he was an active member. Gene was also an active, lifetime member of the Rotary International. Gene is survived by his wife Lynn, his seven children, Gina (Joe) DeBolt, Joni (Craig) Gustafson, Dana Simons, Ryan (Molly) Simons, Amy (Peter) Tanke, Nathan (Ann Marie) Zimmerman, Noel (Cori) Zimmerman; twelve grandchildren, Justin (Kristie) DeBolt, Lindsay (Steve) Sparks, Shannon Gustafson, Cody Gustafson, Alex Simons, Danielle Simons, Zachary Simons, Racquelle Simons, Janelle Simons, Emmaline Zimmerman, Mason Zimmerman, Sienna Zimmerman; three great grandchildren, Jordan, Cecilia and Lillian DeBolt. He is also survived by three brothers, Laurence (Patty), Philip (Karen), and David (Jackie) Simons, and stepsisters, Jacki Pickett, Virginia Fennig, and Michelle Spahr. Gene was predeceased by his parents and stepfather Burl Whiteman. Funeral services will be held at 11 a.m. June 27, 2015 at Linn Presbyterian Church, Lake Geneva, WI. A 2-hour visitation will be held from 9 - 11, with a reception following the service also at the church. In lieu of flowers donations can be made to the Rotatory Club of Delavan-Darien, P.O. Box 521, Delavan, WI 53115. Service Information Saturday, June 27th, 2015 11:00am