Hi Dad -
Another year gone by... I think of you and remember many times I spent with you over the years and your stories often...
Dani and I went to Europe again this winter... Stephen was deployed in Weisbaden Germany so we visited with him for a few days while he had some time off and went to the Heidelberg Castle and to Munich. for a couple of days. Then when he went back to work, Dani I continued to drive to Switzerland and went to Zurich, Basel and Geneva - we also stayed in Evian, France where they have the spring and then went up into the the Alps at Grindelwald and went up to the high peak at 7113 feet in the snow to walk on their cliff walk! From there we drove to Lucerne on the windiest, scary mountain pass road that we were not expecting!  Then on to Innsbruck where we toured the Olympic Ski Jump and then went to Salzburg and Vienna. After Austria, we drove to Prague in the Czech Republic, the to Nuremburg and Rothenburg on our way back to Frankfurt to head home.
It was a lot of driving but a wonderful trip seeing many things I wanted to see. I still wish we could have done a lot of this with you and Mom for your stories and perspectives - but I felt very comfortable in Germany and that it was the land of my family and ancestors. I am very glad I am having the chance to travel through Germany and Europe - I have found that I like it better than here in the US...
I plan to read your book again to see what other places I would like to go in the future...

Wish you were here for me to ask you about your retinal detachment surgery and recovery. I have developed a macular hole and am having surgery for it in 5 days, and am a bit nervous about being awake for the surgery and what the recovery will be like, but I suppose I will find out. I hope it works and gives me the vision back in my right eye - right now it is so blurry and distorted that I am essentially blind in it.

Little Miss Mousey is doing well - I talk with her about you often so she remembers how much you love her and me as well. Brought you flowers today - the store didn't have tulips or daffodils this year, but I found a nice spring bouquet for you.

Love you and miss you lots always - am hope your spirit is happy and at peace.
~ Pam

Happy Father's Day Dad!

Remembering all the days you and Mom took us on hikes and picnics to state parks in Illinois when we were young, and later in North Carolina with Dani - and the annual fishing trips to Lac Du Flambeau. I looked up Schmueking's resort up there and it is still there! We had such good times fishing, swimming, hiking, and visiting the Indian reservation for the shows and shops. 

I kept your & Mom's house in NC, and Dani and go up there several times a year to enjoy the peace and memories. I haven't been able to hike much since my ankle and back injury, (which always reminds me of your knee on Mt Pisgah) - but we still drive the parkway and do some easy walking as I am able to. I am still hoping to do more when I have good days...

Dani is now a professional wedding photographer, and hoping to learn more about landscape photography, so she practices in the mountains. Things are very different now with the digital cameras, but it would have been a nice thing for the two of you to be able to share! I am still working hard as an online college professor - and will keep doing it as long as they let me. That way I am keep both my FL and NC houses and have money to travel.

Dani found a very good German restaurant on our way home from Disney last time - lunch was great and they have the best German store I have seen around here! We bought many things I have not seen in the US - including the beet sugar syrup I loved as a child, and they had the himbeer and woodruff syrup for Berliner Weisses! Now I just have to find the right beer somewhere...

I have so many great family memories of growing up in such a good, loving family with you and Mom... thank you for everything! I think of you everyday, miss talking with you... and look forward to seeing you again someday.


Say hi to Mom and love to both of you!

With love and light always ~

~ Pam

Thinking of you often -

Dani and I went to Germany Sept 2022 for Karl Heinz's funeral and then turned our trip into a Family Heritage trip! After being in Goppingen where Lori showed us where they lived when you met mom, where you lived after getting married, and seeing Oma and Opa Reichstein's house in Jebenhausen that I visited as a child, we spent a couple of days with the Topols in the Alps area of southern Bavaria where we drove by Neuschwanstein Castle and saw one of King Ludwig's palaces in Lake Chiemsee. Southern Germany food and baked items were wonderful!

Then - we drove north and stopped in Nuremberg to see the famous WWII historical areas there, and then went on to Berlin. We found the neighborhood house you were born in, and where you grew up with your aunt and uncle, your church, and the street where your uncle's business was (it was only a block or so away from our hotel). We also toured historical areas in Berlin, including places related to the Wall, the Brandenburg Gate, and the Jewish Memorial. I really enjoyed some of the food we had and definitely the Berliner Weisse!

We also took a day to drive into Poland to Haynau - we walked around the town, the churches, and found where the Reichstein's lived, thanks to an old handwritten map that Lorie gave us. Our family heritage trip was a wonderful experience and I am so glad we went ... wish you and Mom could have been with us to give us all of your past stories and perspective on everything!

From Berlin we drove west, stopped for dinner in Hannover and then visited the castle at Bielefeld. From there we drove through Netherlands to see windmills (no tulips tho in Sept), and on to Brussels. We had lunch in the Grand City Square where we had Belgian Kwak (a beer you can only get there) which was delicious, and saw their celebration of the Belgian cyclist who won the 2022 World Championship Elite Men's Road Race.

To end our trip we drove into France to Champagne country, stayed in Epernay, and did a full day tasting tour of champagne wineries and vineyards. Then it was on to the Paris airport to head home.

I am so glad I got to go to all these places and wish we had done it earlier with you and Mom - but we had your book with us to guide us, and remembered your stories and all the German history you told us.

Yesterday, I brought you yellow tulips, and remembered how you much you love us with Little Miss Mousey. I talk to her of you often so she can remember you also. You are in my heart and thoughts always!

With love and light~
Pam

I’m stuck, stuck, stuck on figuring out some old German writing on my great great grandfather’s baptismal record of 1830. Without being able to read this, I cannot go forward.

I know Fred Simon would be able to help me. So, Fred, please send down some good thoughts today and push my research along. It’s been months now, and I can’t find anyone who can assist me.

Thank you, good sir.

Happy Father's Day Dad!
I am remembering the times we used to go out for unlimited crab legs at Red Lobster in Chicago and how much you enjoyed them! And the trips we took every summer to Schmuecking's cabins in Lac Du Flambeau for fishing and swimming the lake... I always enjoyed the Indian pow-wows and reservation stores with the Indian crafts they had also. 
Also all the hikes and picnics you and Mom took us on to the state parks in Illinois and Wisconsin - and how big I thought the "Hump" was in Chicago when I was 3 years old, when you used to take us there for kite-flying and to the well to get fresh well water. I remember the waterfall at Olson Rugs - that was one of my favorite places as a child that I also thought was so big... The Riverview Park days that Hall Printing gave the employees and their families were a lot of fun too... the Bobs ride and the boat slide were my favorites!
I have so many great family memories of growing up in such a good, loving family with you and Mom...  thank you for everything!
I think of you everyday, miss talking with you... and look forward to seeing you again someday.

With love and light always ~
Pam

It's hard to believe that 3-18-2022 was the 100th anniversary of your birth! We celebrated your and Mom's birthdays by bringing you some of your favorite spring flowers - hyacinths (love that smell!), tulips, and pussy willows, and by going to the German restaurant for dinner.  Dani and I both enjoyed the Erdinger Dunkel beer, a very good pretzel, spaetzle, potato pancakes, and sauerkraut. Their red cabbage is not that good - Mom's is much better, so we do not order that in restaurants.
I miss being able to talk with you and your sharing of German history and stories - right now would be a time I would love to talk with you about what is going on in Ukraine - it reminds me of the experiences of you and Mom in WWII. You are truly forever missed, I think of you every day and look forward to our reunion someday.
With love and light always -
Pam

Where’s Fred when we need him right now? I know Fred would be such a good guide to all the German records I stumble through. My research made a 90 degree turn when I learned my great grandfather was adopted as a young child by his step-father. Families that I tracked for years are not truly blood relations to me. My genealogy world is upside down, and Mr. Simon would understand all of this. The dead have passed from our earthly world, but I feel they are never far away. Thinking of Mr. Simon today with fond memories.

Brought spring flowers to you on 2/3/22 Dad - a pot with daffodils, tulips, and a hyacinth. I know you enjoyed seeing the daffodils and tulips come up every year at our house in the Chicago, and the smell of hyacinths that you always brought for Mom. February might seem early for these flowers by northern standards, but not in Florida!

I was watching the Winter Olympics the past couple of nights and remember how much I enjoyed watching them with you as I was growing up, and the Tour De France races we use to watch in the summers. I remember how you would explain all the strategies of the riders in the bicycle races and the different shirts riders earned - even though I also enjoyed seeing the French scenery!

Thanks for all the good times we spent watching sports together and for teaching me about them - I enjoyed it and miss having you here to watch with me now - I think of you every day, miss you and love you always!

Love & Light -
Pam

Happy Father's Day Dad!

Remembering you and some of the fun times we had growing up... fishing in Wisconsin - the annual north-woods family vacations we took are great memories of wonderful times, as are the all-you-could-eat crab leg dinners at Red Lobster back in the day. Hiking and picnicking in all the state parks you took us to as children and to waterfalls and off the Blue Ridge Parkway in NC, along with our first Smoky Mountain camping trip and the stop at Mammoth Cave for the spelunking tour! You were always looking for adventure and fun with us... I also remember you teaching me to dance at the Eriksen New Year's parties, and the father-daughter dances we attended.

Thanks for all the great memories - I am so lucky to have had you as my Dad. I think of you every day, miss you and love you always!

Love & Light ~Pam

Such wonderful memories!

Dreamt of you last night Dad, and woke up with childhood memories swirling through my mind. So many wonderful memories of times we spent together and family trips taken. Thank you for creating such wonderful memories of my childhood and for being such a wonderful Dad! I miss talking with you and the family card game that we always played for so many years... I share memories of you and stories of your life with others often - you gave so much to so many...

Love you always - Pam

Could I use Fred’s skills right now. With time on my hands due to the COVID shutdown, I made a major discovery in my genealogy. This direction has me plowing through years of German records.
What a fine fellow Fred was. Generous with his knowledge and always a pleasant to be with. I am sure his family misses him greatly.
My memories of him will continue as I work these old records.

I am sorry Fred missed getting involved with all the recent genealogy buzz produced by DNA analysis. I think he would have had fun with that. He is still remembered with fondness. I am certain that his family misses him daily. He lived a long, fruitful life. For that, we can be grateful.

Remembering you this Father's Day Dad - and all the fun times we shared throughout my childhood and adult years. I enjoy sharing your life story, your service to the Boy Scouts, your book, your thoughts and stories of Germany with others, and how you touched the lives of so many with your volunteer service at church and with genealogy research and translation. Thank you for always being there for us - I am glad we were able to get closer as we cared for Mom. I feel very lucky to have you in my life.  I remember and miss you everyday and love you always!  Love and Light Always ~ Pam

Three years since Fred's passing. I am sure his love and presence is still missed greatly by his family and friends.
Along my journey through genealogy, I have met so many nice and helpful folks along the way. Fred would be on top of that list. A generous spirit and a giving nature was his.
May his memory be for a blessing.

Happy Birthday to Fred. God’s gift to us is our lives. Fred used his time well by loving his family and friends and contributing to society with good work, Scouting, and helping so many with genealogy. A life well lived. Cheers. Surely still missed by many.

Two years have passed since Fred left this world. There have been many times I could have used his guidance to help me through some German translations. I think Fred would have been fascinated by the turn genealogy has taken into the DNA element. He was a curious guy, and I bet he would have been tested like so many of us. Condolences to his family and friends who carry on daily without him in their lives. May we someday all be rejoined in that union of God, which is Love itself.

Fred served many years in the Asheville Family History Center. Many people depended on him to help with their German challenges. He said that when he first came to the Center, the Director at that time was so impressed with his ability to read German that she asked him to keep coming. He came the rest of his life until the last few weeks. We spent much time listening to Fred's stories and reading his book.  One of the folks that came in rather regularly decided that Fred needed some help to get his book in shape to be published so he volunteered to edit it. Lately, Fred liked to get on Google maps and show us the places he had lived and gone to school and dated. We will all miss Fred Simon. He was an institution.

I first met Mr. Simon aka Uncle Si, as my Scout Leader of troop 85 at St. Peters Church, Chicago. Then as my Scoutmaster of troop 35 at Grace Lutheran Church, near Diversey and Laramie in Chicago. I made my Eagle Scout Award with Fred at Troop 35 in December 1976. Fred gave us boys a life of adventures. From the low lands of Owasippe Scout Reservation in Michigan to the peaks of Philmont Scout Ranch near Raton New Mexico. We did anything to go hiking with Fred. If there was a campout, there better been a schedule hike. Fred helped me achieve the Fort Dearborn Medal. It involved 5 of some of the longer hikes, up to 18 miles. Our longest hike was the Abe Lincoln Trail of 21 miles where we camped at New Salem State Park. Very adventurous and very fun. I wouldn't had experienced any of it if it weren't for Mr. Simon. I loved the times we traveled together.
Along the way Fred would share his war stories, some I still remember today. The most colorful story is when he was wounded and his recovery. The most funniest one is when during pitch black night someone snuck into where food was stored, and grabbed a loaf of bread and cold cuts. Both stories are in his book " A BERLINER'S LUCK". I was only with Fred for approximately 7 years, but the experience has lasted me this far.
My wife Nancy and I got the opportunity to visit Fred and Erna in 2006. Nancy and I had always celebrated the day we met. So we decided to see Old Uncle Si in late August. Fred suggested we go to Mt Pisgah and walk to the top of this one trail. It was a very memorable. At 84 years old, Fred still wanted to go hiking. A few hours later, after Fred's knee kissed a rock in the side of the hill, was carried out by over two dozen volunteer rescuers. It so happened it was Aug 23rd, the same day Fred was wounded in the war 60 years earlier. It also was the same date Nancy and I met.
I loved the times I spent with Mr, Simon. I will never forget the moments or his stories. Thank you Uncle Si !!!

I met Mr. Simon at the Family History Center many years ago. He was generous with his time and very helpful with his knowledge of German scripts. I learned a great deal more about him through the obit. He was a fine fellow and will be missed by many. Condolences to his children and family. I thought it was splendid to hold the memorial service on his birthday weekend. May you be comforted to know that we share in your sorrow at this loss of a good man. I only learned of his passing today (on his birthday!) when I went to the FHC to do some research. How I hoped Fred would be there today to help me with something. He has left this earth and made it a better place.

Simon family, I was so sad to hear about Fred's passing. I worked with Fred at Hall Printing in the Cost Department for 15years. Fred was like a second father to me, giving me advice. We were in the Photography club and went on many outing to take pictures. Yes I also heard many story's from his years in Germany. I bought his book, but never have gotten around to reading it. Maybe now I will. His greatest story was his life with Erna and his children. And now also grandchildren. The world has lost a very interesting person who gave so much of himself to others. Family, hold tight to your heart the wonderful memories of this man called husband, father, grandfather, scoutmaster and friend! You will be missed.

My Oma was lifelong friends with Fred and Erna. Every year Oma and I would travel to visit the Simons. I have such wonderful memories of Mr. Simon telling me stories of his life, listening to them and Oma speak German at breakneck speed, and the nights that the 4 of us stayed up late playing rummy. You will be truly missed Mr. Simon

I came to know Fred through scouting and I always looked forward to our Thursday night chats. I'm sorry we didn't make our fishing trip. WWW