If you called him a good son, you would be right. If you called him a faithful worker and a good driver, you would be right again.

Warren Edson Simons of Charlotte died Dec. 6, 2011 at home. He was 77 and died of cancer and kidney failure. He had retired from Carolina Delivery Service as a truck driver after more than 20 years.

An early marriage gave him daughter Pamela and son Warren II. He had served a 1950s Army stint before he met Hazel, who would become his wife of 31 years.

She was helping out at the West Charlotte Drive-In Restaurant when “I saw that tall drink of water walk through the door,” Hazel said. “I asked the man I was working for who he was. When he sat down, I asked his name -- not thinking I would ever see him again.

“He came back two weeks later and asked me if I wanted to go to Lake Norman with him,” Hazel continued.

She would. Yes, indeed.

She later learned that Warren was a 1952 graduate of Second Ward High School and, from what she heard, the only guy who drove his own car and dressed nicely, she said.

He took care of us

Hazel already had daughters Marilyn and Terri when the pair wed in 1980, and the families blended together.

“He took care of us,” stepdaughter Marilyn Hill said. “He was very kind. He was a father to me and later to my son and grandson. He taught the value of life to me and accepted us as his children.”

“When we were coming up, we didn’t sit as a family and eat together,” Marilyn said. “But when Mother married him, we would sit together to eat. He taught us family values and to do what you’re supposed to do.”

When Warren’s parents’ health failed, he took care of them. When his dad died and there was no money for private nurses, he moved into his mother’s home to care for her.

“When he was not there to take care of us, he was our provider and we had no problem paying the rent.” Marilyn said. “He gave me $500 to buy my first new car, a 2005 Chevy Cavalier. I’d always had hand-me-down cars before that.

“He was a dear, kind man. He didn’t say much -- he let Mom do that. But when he said something, we listened,” Marilyn said.

Warren had been a member of the House of Prayer for All People and the East Stonewall AME Zion Church before joining Kingdom Hall of Jehovah’s Witnesses with Hazel. “He was studying to be a Witness,” Marilyn said.

“It was always a pleasure and an encouragement to see him making his meeting in spite of his illness,” said friends Alex and Joyce Jones. “He set such a good example for those of us who are facing sicknesses.”

He was a fun person

Son Warren II said his father considered them all as family.

“He raised his children to consider his wife as Grandma Hazel. He would take us fishing every weekend and we all grew up together.

“He was a fun person who loved to fish,” his son said. “He was a very easy-going, meek guy who never got upset. He enjoyed the outdoors and would rather sit on a park bench than sit in the house. He would take me to do whatever I wanted to do, bowling, going to the park or video game room.

“He loved to laugh and have fun,” the younger Warren said. “He enjoyed life and didn’t have a lot of stress. He’d tell me, ‘Just wait until morning and things will look different.’ And sure enough, they did. He taught me the value of letting nature take its course and evaluating with a clear head.”

And that’s some mighty good advice, young Warren.

Mighty good.

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