William Lee Simpson

William L. (Bill) Simpson passed away quietly at home Sunday, August 11, 2024.

A service will be held at the Coastal Carolina Veterans Cemetery In Jacksonville on Wednesday, October 9, 2024, at 2:00 PM  with military honors.

Bill was born on May 31, 1932, and, like his brothers, was delivered in his maternal grandparent’s bed in Havana, North Dakota.

He grew up in Veblen, South Dakota, just across the state line. After his parents’ deaths, he lived with his older brother, Bob, and wife, Mary, on their powerboat Silver Spray tied up at Captain Bill’s Restaurant on the Morehead City waterfront. Bill attended Beaufort High School; he was quickly befriended by a group of local boys, and together they had many memorable adventures.

Days before graduation, Bill took off, hitchhiking to Minneapolis, Minnesota, to visit his Aunt Adeline. There he tried numerous times to join the United States Marine Corps but was rejected because the recruiter thought he was underage. Eventually in July 1950 he was accepted and shipped to Camp Pendelton, CA. He served in the Korean War with Charlie Company, 1st Battalion, 1st Marines (C11) as a machine gunner.

Bill’s next duty, two years with the Embassy Guard stationed in Buenos Aires, Argentina, was a posting that witnessed the riots and revolution of Peron’s overthrow.

Bill also served in the Caribbean area. During R&R, he traveled the islands including to pre-revolutionary Cuba. He was honorably discharged in July 1956.

Bill traveled throughout Latin America, hitchhiking, and getting around like the locals on buses, trains, or walking, and sleeping in hammocks, finding everyone he met welcoming and friendly. He crossed Lake Titicaca on a reed boat, slept alone overnight in a cold mist in the ruins of Machu Picchu, and was the distinguished guest at an impromptu military parade of the Paraguyan army.

Returning to the States, Bill found a job driving cabs in Oakland, California, while attending the University of California, Berkeley.

He later worked as a professional photographer shooting rodeos and bar scenes. In his studio, Candide 910 Photography, in Phoenix, AZ, he did quick turnarounds of developing, printing, delivering, and selling photos to the subjects.

Bill was accepted into Arizona State University to study Anthropology. His fieldwork was conducted with the Yaqui Indians of Mexico and Guadalupe (AZ), and research was presented in a master’s Thesis: An Ethnographic Account of Yaqui Guadalupe compared with the Culture of Poverty (1969).

His graduate degree led to a position as Archeologist with NC State Parks, and participation in the remarkable discovery and excavations of a large Native American ossuary in Gloucester, NC. Bill also taught Anthropology and Sociology for East Carolina University at local Community Colleges and Camp Lejeune.

Bill held a US Coast Guard tonnage license for over 30 years and traveled the waters from Maryland to Yucatan. In Carteret County he was co-captain of Bob & Mary’s Sylvia II used to run charters for families and public school teachers demonstrating commercial fishing gear and techniques.

He is the author of Spit to Windward & Other Stories, and I Had a Hell of a Time Getting to Korea: A Memoir. He compiled, edited, and contributed to Tome of Poems, by E.D. Holmes & Others, celebrating the poetry of his grandfather and other family members.

Woodworking and carving, writing poetry and ditties, sailing Polly his San Juan 21, and catching speckled trout from his dock in the fall were some of his favorite things. He and his wife traveled to many places beyond the Mississippi River to the Pacific visiting national parks and monuments, including several visits to Havana (ND) and Veblen.

An observer of nature and people, he was patient and thoughtful.

Bill was preceded in death by his brothers Jim Simpson, Clel Simpson, and Bob Simpson. He is survived by his wife of 44 years, Susan, nephews Jim (Marolyn) Simpson, David (Betty) Simpson, and niece Ilsa Simpson.

The family wishes that those who remember Bill raise a glass of their favorite beverage and toast to his life.

Condolences and life tributes may be sent to the family at www.noebrooks.net.

Arrangements by Noe-Brooks Funeral Home, Morehead City, NC.