STAFF REPORTS
When the Dupree family left Austin in 1935, eight-year-old Louise could not understand why anyone would trade living in Austin for the tiny little town of Kyle. “I cried for days, begging my parents to let me move to Elgin and live with my grandparents. Of course, they refused! So, to the Kyle School, I made my daily appearance, hating each day until I finally realized that this is home and I might as well make the best of it,” Louise later wrote in the the Onion Creek Free Press centennial edition commemorating Kyle’s 100th birthday, published in 1980. Ironically, Mrs. Simon would not only grow to love her adopted town, she would become one of the foremost chroniclers of its history.
Born in Elgin in 1927 to Jodie and Irma Dupree, Ethel Louise Dupree’s family settled on Wallace Street in downtown Kyle in 1935. Louise graduated from Kyle High School where she met her future husband, Delvin “Red” Simon. Red and Louise were married in Kyle Methodist Church in 1948, at which time she worked for the Hays County Clerks Office. In 1952 Simon became a “full-time homemaker”, welcoming sons Delvin Russell in 1953 and John Reagan in 1957.
Throughout her life, Mrs. Simon was active in community affairs, most steadfastly in her support and dedication to the Kyle United Methodist Church. Also a charter member of the Kyle Area Heritage Association, she was instrumental in securing the family histories of Kyle citizens and compiling and editing the Kyle centennial paper which chronicled the history of Kyle’s first century as a city. She also served as a member of the Hays County Historical Commission, served as a board member of the Kyle Cemetery Association and was a lifelong member of the Friends of the Kyle Library.
A published author, Simon was a co-author of the definitive historical books “Clear Springs and Limestone Ledges, a History of San Marcos and Hays County”, as well as “ Kyle and Its Surrounding Communities”, a collaboration with local historian, Gene Johnson. She was appointed by Hays County Commissioners to the first Claiborne Kyle Log House Commission which oversaw the restoration, preservation and regeneration of this historic structure into a living history museum.
Always serving with compatibility, keeping her sense of humor and always with a smile, Louise Simon served her community until her health forced her to step down. Mrs. Simon is survived by her husband, D.J. “Red” Simon, her sons, Russell and Reagan and their families.
