Feature Story:

Remembering Kirby Simon

The sudden and tragic loss of Mr. Simon--due to a faulty heater in his government-leased apartment--left a tremendous gap in the lives of those who knew and loved him and in the Foreign Service. At a gathering in New York following his death, family members and friends from around the world honored a brief life filled with extraordinary achievements and marked by acts of volunteerism. Through the stories they shared, they remembered the witty, outspoken prankster whom one former colleague called "the first one invited to every party, and the last one to complain about a lousy day...the first to hold the door open and the last to walk though."

Kirby Simon, his friends remembered, loved his three years in the Foreign Service. One former supervisor remembered that "For Kirby, the important part of the Foreign Service was service." A co-worker recalled that he "was passionately committed" to the causes he believed in, and another, that he "made no apologies for standing up for what he believed was right," while "bringing constant joy to other people."

Struggling with their sudden loss, John and Claire Simon chose to memorialize their only child in a way that reflected how he lived--through giving and service. They established the J. Kirby Simon Foreign Service Trust four years ago this month as a charitable fund with the primary goal of expanding opportunities for professional and community service and the personal well-being of active Foreign Service officers and their families.

Since its inception, the trust has funded 25 projects in 24 countries spanning all geographic regions. Grants have ranged from $400 to $4,000, for total funding of more than $40,000.

All the projects assisted through the trust are initiated and carried out in an unofficial capacity and not on official time by Foreign Service members, their family members and other U.S. government employees, regardless of nationality, serving at U.S. diplomatic posts abroad.

To date, the trust has funded projects that assist facilities for disabled persons, ecological projects, libraries, facilities for children, educational expeditions, summer day care programs, teachers' training, shelters for abused women and writing competitions. It has also sponsored recreational sports teams for men and women.

Elizabeth Dunkel, who helped found the Merida English Library in Mexico thanks largely to the trust, called the J. Kirby Simon Trust grant "a gift from heaven."

"We are a struggling group of Americans of all ages, who, through sheer force of will and desire have created a library out of nothing," she reported to the trust's board of directors. "We have grown immensely thanks in large part to the trust your gift inspired in us and others."

All nine trustees on the board of directors knew Kirby well and have been involved with the Foreign Service either professionally or as family members. Five of the trustees were Foreign Service officers who served with Kirby in Taiwan or attended his same A-100 Foreign Service officer orientation class training. After reviewing proposals, the trustees vote annually on which submissions best support trust goals and Mr. Simon's memory. The trustees are currently evaluating 42 proposals and will announce awardees this month.

The J. Kirby Simon Foreign Service Trust has received contributions from 140 individuals and six family foundations. One of the most unusual gifts--one that board members say represents Kirby's own brand of originality--came from someone who received a speeding ticket and was permitted by the traffic court to direct the $75 fine to the trust rather than to the state treasury.

An engineering teacher and students at the Holy Land Deaf School in Salt, Jordan. A grant from the trust provided equipment to the science laboratory for a program organized by Patrick McGee, security engineering officer in Amman.

To many, the J. Kirby Simon Foreign Service Trust represents the highest ideals and the best of the spirit of the Foreign Service. "To me, this story is magical on so many levels. It's about selflessness and service, it's about parental love and it's about doing the unexpected," noted one Foreign Service officer who has watched and marveled at the work of the trust since its creation.

"But most of all, this is a story about remarkable people. By all accounts, Kirby was an extraordinary junior officer--a rising star and a wonderful human being. The trust supports the work of other terrific members of our community--those who use scarce personal time to try to make a difference."

The Foreign Service officer said the trust and its work reveal a heartwarming story about the family and friends of Kirby Simon, noting, "Their courage, strength and wisdom to move beyond their pain to start this generous trust should set an example for us all."

For More Information

For more information about the J. Kirby Simon Foreign Service Trust, visit its web site at www. yale.edu/lawweb/lawfac/simon/trust.htm, call (203) 432-2698, fax (203) 432-0063 or write to: J. Kirby Simon Foreign Service Trust, 82 Edgehill Road, New Haven, CT 06511. Proposals for funding by the trust are solicited each year through Department Notices, American Foreign Service Association cables, and advertisements and announcements in State Magazine, The Foreign Service Journal and other publications.

J. Kirby Simon Trust Projects Supported During 1997­98 Caracas, Venezuela: A summer day camp for children of embassy employees Djibouti: A contest for young people writing prose or poetry in English or French Guatemala City: Installation of an alternative energy system using ocean waves to provide lighting for Guatemalan fishermen and for other village power needs Krakow, Poland: Educational activities for gypsy children in the Maskowice settlement St. Petersburg, Russia: A summer educational day camp for children of the U.S. Consulate General staff Tel Aviv and Jerusalem, Israel: Educational activities organized at the only nonsectarian, coeducational, multilanguage school in the West Bank Expansion of the circulation of the nonprofit The SUN--The Spouse's Underground Newsletter, founded in 1991 and published by two Foreign Service spouses La Paz, Bolivia: Activities in support of an orphanage that serves 80 abandoned Bolivian children Gaborone, Botswana: Environmental educational program for children of the embassy's Foreign Service National staff Recife, Brazil: Educational-recreational parties for abandoned and orphaned children living in a local orphanage Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso: Support for a women's softball team, the "Gazelles of Burkina" Kinshasa, Congo: A weekend educational and recreational activity center for the deaf, staffed by professional volunteers Addis Ababa, Ethiopia: An audio library for visually impaired students at Addis Ababa University Tegucigalpa, Honduras: An intercultural exchange partnership between an international school attended by embassy children and a local school Naha and Okinawa, Japan: A monthly "English Corner" involving informal English-language interchange between U.S. guest speakers and Okinawan college students and recent graduates Amman, Jordan: A science laboratory at a school for the deaf in Salt, Jordan Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia: Training of Malaysian elementary school music teachers in the Orff-Schulwerk participatory method of music education Merida, Mexico: Improvement of the Merida English Library that serves both the U.S. and Mexican communities Wellington, New Zealand: Field trips to the Te Papa Museum for children attending a primary school serving Maori/Pacific Island children from very low-income families Niamey, Niger: A refrigerator for medicine, baby formula and food provided to local children in a program operated by a local orphanage that receives assistance from a U.S. voluntary support network Lima, Peru: A library for the first school built in Villa El Salvador at the initiative of the school's parent association Dakar, Senegal: A temporary shelter for Senegalese girls in danger of family abuse and for pregnant teenagers expelled by their families Pretoria, South Africa: Expansion of the Chariotters (correct spelling) Basketball Club, a youth association in Mamelodi township, to include an additional 60 young girls and boys Kiev, Ukraine: An educational day summer camp for children of the embassy community and, space permitting, to other members of the extended international community Tashkent, Uzbekistan: Educational supplies for an English language school attended by children from the United States and four other countries as well as the local community