Russ Simpson, founder of the local chapter of the Parents of Murdered Children group, died after a March 12 heart attack.
Simpson, 78, was instrumental in starting the Lucas County Victim/Witness Assistance program and was a facilitator for the Office of Victim Services with the Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Corrections.
He and his wife, Pat, lost two children, Stacy and Scott Simpson, to separate
murders that were years apart. The former bus driver is survived by Pat, daughter Linda Lou Simpson, son David Simpson and four grandchildren.
“He had more compassion and sympathy for people than anybody you know,” Pat said of her late husband. “He was a strong, caring, giving man.”
The couple would have been married 55 years on March 29. They met at
Libbey High School.
Lynn Carder, executive director of Lucas County Victim/Witness Assistance, said Simpson was always there for murder victims’ families.
“He wanted to make sure they were OK. He’d cry with them; he’d laugh with them,” Carder said.
Carder said Simpson was working on helping a victim’s family get information they needed when he died.
“He was becoming more of an activist. He was looking at things from a legislative standpoint,” Carder said. “He had seen families be put out of the
court systems and the justice system doesn’t always work the way you want.”
In 2006, Simpson told his story to Toledo Free Press. He said, “I went to Scott’s grave one day and made a promise that every day, I would make at least one person laugh or smile or feel good, because that person I make smile this afternoon may not be alive tomorrow. Making that promise is how I survived.”
Visitation hours are 3-8 p.m. March 16 and 2-8 p.m. March 17 at the Newcomer Funeral Home’s Northwest Toledo Chapel, 4150 W. Laskey Road, Toledo. The service is 10:30 a.m. March 18, also at Newcomer.
