Educator Ted Simonson's Legacy Spanned Five Decades

battled cancer since the year 2000, according to close friend and caregiver Patti Hughes.

Simonson also suffered from a rare genetic mutation called KRAS, which causes many cancers, including colon cancer, Hughes explained.

But the 87-year-old beloved Los Gatos Lions Club member received the best care from Kaiser Permanente Santa Clara Medical Center on Homestead Road in Santa Clara—his oncologist and home and hospice nurses visiting him every time he was admitted to the facility, whether or not it was related to the cancer, Hughes said.

A week after his death, Hughes shared how she became one of Simonson's closest friends.

After she was introduced to him as a young English teacher at LGHS in 1969, Simonson, a LGHS administrator then, acknowledged that he was a Mason and agreed to watch over her after she mentioned that her father was also a Mason and had told her that Masons take an oath to protect the children of other Masons.

"He didn't laugh at me when I said that. Obviously that was unsophisticated," Hughes recalled.

The retired longtime Los Gatos resident said she first brought Simonson to her Summit Road home after he had a hip replacement in early 2000. He ended up staying at her residence for four months.

When he needed another surgery, he returned to do his rehab with Hughes' help.

And when he had seven stents in his heart, he recuperated at her side. Sadly, when the cancer was diagnosed, Hughes' late husband asked him to stay in their extra bedroom.

Hughes, who has no children "except the children I have taught at LGHS for 30 years," said with Simonson and Al Simon, the trio formed an administrative team that worked together for 25 years. "We loved our job. We loved this community so much," she said.

Simonson and Hughes had a shared saying used as a guidepost for their life by the famous Lebanese-American artist, poet and writer Khalil Gibran, "Work is love made visible."

Daughter Karen Rippberger, of Santa Barbara, visited Simonson every month during his illness and called him every week to make sure he was being cared for properly, Hughes said.

Rippberger said one of her father's greatest legacies is that he worked for Los Gatos' largest employers for nearly 50 years and touched the lives of parents, students and community members for at least three generations.

Simonson began teaching at Los Gatos High School in 1951 and then became vice principal and principal. He also served in the Army during World War II with the 42nd Rainbow Division Infantry.

On Aug. 21, 2010, Simonson received the LGHS's Lifetime Achievement Award for his service. A bench was dedicated on the school grounds with his name and school's fitness center bears his name as well.

"That [nearly 50 years at LGHS] has had a definite impact on Los Gatos because those are the people that have shaped the kind of community they have," Rippberger said.

"If those he taught and worked with are true to his values, there will be no void because the work will be continuing," she added. "Being kind to others and doing the best job possible with integrity and honesty is what my father was about."

Simonson was preceded in death by wife Donnetta. He's also survived by daughter Laura Ricksecker and four grandchildren.

Close family and friends are invited to attend his memorial celebration of life 3-7 p.m., Sunday, June 10, at Hughes' home, 23107 Summit Rd.

Simonson's ashes will be buried at Hughes' Maison du Lac estate, Rippberger added.

In lieu of flowers, friends and family are asked to make a cash donation to the Los Gatos Lions Club's Ted Simonson Scholarship Fund, P.O. Box 522, Los Gatos, CA 95031.

The $2,000 scholarship was established many years ago and has been given to outstanding Los Gatos High School students. This year's recipient was Los Gatos High School student Marion Wellington, Hughes said.

"Ted personally picked her because of the essay that she wrote about leadership," Hughes said. "He read her essay and said, 'That's the kind of person who should be a leader.' "