Simon Gonzalez, Jr.

Simon was born on September 21st, 1939 in Mirando City, Texas to Simon Gonzalez & Inocencia Perez, the fourth of their 6 children. The family later moved to Corpus Christi where Simon spent his teen years. He joined the Marines with his father’s permission while he was still 17. He married in 1958 to Lydia Martinez. The next year he and his family relocated to San Diego, California. They were blessed with three children. Simon was a hard worker and known to have two or three jobs at a time. In 1966, he started his civil service career as an aircraft electrician for the Naval Air Rework Facility at NAS, North Island. Later he became a supervisor & received many awards and letters of commendation. His work took him and his crew overseas to Hawaii, Japan, & the Philippines. He also enjoyed being a San Diego Reserve Police Officer. He truly loved his work. In 1976 his marriage ended and in 1978, on the eve of his 39th birthday, he met his second wife Marie in Tijuana, Mexico. They were married three months later in Canada. In 1987, their family was doubled when twins Jesse and Daniel joined them. Jocelyn arrived in 1991 followed by Gabriel born in 1998. In 1995 he retired from his civil service career & started working for Head Start as a bus driver & facilities maintenance man shortly after. Also in 1995, he excitedly went to Super Bowl XXIX in Miami. He was an avid San Diego Chargers fan & was a season ticket holder for many years. He loved to tailgate in his motorhome arriving hours before the game started. He also coached his son’s baseball teems and enjoyed watching his kids play sports. The family relocated to Bellingham in the summer of 1999 to be closer to Marie’s family in Canada. Simon went to work then at Home Base. He officially retired at the end of 2001 but always kept himself busy with yard work & loved to help friends who needed an extra hand with their projects. He liked to dance and loved his 50’s music and Willie Nelson. He enjoyed the outdoors, mowing the lawn, fishing, scuba-diving, and camping along with the occasional hunting trip. Simon lived a full life. He was spirited, fun loving, had a great smile and made friends easily. He was known for his enjoyment of Bud Light and Corona. He also loved to drive & make the long road trip to Texas to visit his brother and sister. He was a volunteer for over a dozen years with Toys for Tots & a 4th Degree Knight of Columbus. He died peacefully in his sleep on November 20, 2020 under the care of Hospice. He is predeceased by his parents, sister Aurora and brothers Pablo & Macario. He is survived by his sisters Martha & Leonora, his 7 children - Simon III (Corinne), Gigi Gaillot, Jackie (Paul), Jesse, Daniel, Jocelyn & Gabriel; 6 grandchildren, plus 2 step-grandchildren and 2 great-grandchildren. He loved his family very much & will be dearly missed. Clicking the link below will take you to a slide show of Simon's life: https://onedrive.live.com/?authkey=%21APwetk6pyrGWPLg&cid=C6941E0D37C9F828&id=C6941E0D37C9F828%21111&parId=root&o=OneUp