Joseph Sidney "Joe" Simco

Joseph Sidney ‘Joe’ Simco lived and loved well for almost 94 years. He was born to Thomas Frank and Iva Peters Simco on December 18, 1929, at their home in Mountainburg, Arkansas. He learned to work hard at his family’s grocery store, as well as on their farm. As a young boy, he loved hunting and fishing with his older brothers and friends. As he aged, he attended the Presbyterian church where he asked Jesus to become his personal Savior. In school, he became an outstanding basketball and baseball player and served as the FFA President for the Dragons. While his 5 older brothers, sister and father helped with the WWII efforts, Joe and his younger brother helped his mother run their farm by doing chores before and after school and his games, which he said kept him busy enough to stay out of trouble. He said that he was ‘smart enough’ but his hard work made up the difference to do well in school. After graduating high school, he attended Arkansas Tech to pursue a degree in agriculture science. He was drafted into the Army to serve during the Korean war where he trained and then served as an explosive’s specialist in America’s first Jungle Training Camp in Panama. He earned the rank of Corporal just after the 1 st year and was proud to carry the American flag in every parade or processional. Unfortunately for him, and everyone around him, his service left him with great hearing loss which could be frustrating but also provided much laughter for the family over the years. After being honorably discharged, he accepted a job as an Extension Service agent in Jonesboro. A little time later, he returned to Russellville to continue working as an agent, which allowed him to help a lot of farmers AND meet the love of his life on a blind date. Virginia Poteet and he were married on August 15, 1959, and they moved to Fayetteville so he could pursue his master’s degree in veterinary entomology. They became life-long NWA residents, members of the Harmon Methodist Church and avid Razorback fans but he sure hated to see his Hogs not play well or lose a game. In 1962, they started their family and moved to their own farm in Tontitown where, side by side, they all worked hard together to raise cattle and laying hens and grow gardens and concord grapes for Welch’s. He was a devoted provider and protector for his ‘Ginna’ and their 2 daughters, Donna and Debbie. He helped his girls raise and train steers to show at the county and state fairs and supported them in their school, church, and 4-H activities. He made sure that he and his family went to church each week and learned to serve others. He was blessed to welcome 2 sons by marriage into the family-Vernon Pianalto in 1980 and Larry Gibson in 1986. Joe worked for 35 years at the University of Arkansas as a Research Entomologist and consulted and ran testing for various chemical companies around the country. After a full day of work, he would come home and take care of his 105-acre farm and animals, which brought him both a lot of pleasure and the opportunity to grow his fruits of the Spirit, especially patience! He saw hard work as fun and strived to do his best on any job although he tended to rush and make ‘messes’. He never put off for tomorrow what could be done today and had the need to finish a job he started as soon as possible. He always arrived very early anywhere he went so he could talk with anyone willing to listen, at least until Donna started driving him to his appointments and then they were late because he was only on time. He instilled faith in God, American pride, wisdom, financial prudence, generosity, kindness, respectfulness, tenaciousness, and a good work ethic in his daughters. He lived by the mottos of ‘be a good neighbor’ and ‘give more than you take’. He never met a stranger because with just a few questions, he could find out an amazing number of commonalities or just leave someone feeling like he cared about them and their family. During their retirement years, he and Virginia enjoyed camping, river fishing for trout, and traveling with family and friends around Arkansas and to other states, especially enjoying Colorado. They took several bus trips and cruises to finish seeing most of the United States, as well as some countries abroad while making new friends and seeing God’s beautiful creation. They enjoyed being bleacher cheerleaders for their 5 grandchildren, Jonathon, Anthony and Jeremy Pianalto, and Chase and Jordan Gibson and he referred to them all as his ‘4-layer cake with the icing on the top’! They supported them with their presence and encouragement at their school programs and sports-rarely was a soccer, football, basketball, baseball, or volleyball game missed and they became ‘Papa and Granny’ to many of their friends and teammates. He was proud to pass along his knowledge of controlling insects and raising cattle to Vernon, Donna, and his grandsons but it was very hard for him to become a silent partner and give up all the work so he remained as active in the farm operations as his body would allow, obviously doing more than he should at times but proud of that accomplishment and ignoring his family’s wishes for him to slow down! Joe was happy to see all his grandchildren marry and he welcomed Sara, Elizabeth, Tera, Miranda, and Andrew into his growing family. The ‘cherries on top of his cake’ as he called them, were his great grands: Emalena, Norah, Elsie, Ian, Addison, and Hayden Pianalto who visited often and kept him entertained. He always made a point to say ‘I love you’, ‘You look so pretty or handsome’, ‘I appreciate you’, ‘I’ve got the best family’, ‘I’m proud of you’ and ask, ‘Did you have a good crowd at church and what did your preacher talk about?’. He enjoyed accepting the best hugs from his family as they presented a tattered hug ‘coupon’ that could be found hanging on his refrigerator amongst all the treasured family pictures and special artwork made by the kids and kept over the years. He would offer some sort of ice cream or cookies and a Hershey’s Kiss, and many times slip some money into their hands just to be a blessing. Then, he probably would have to ask them if they could help him find his lost TV remote or cellphone or fix the TV that wasn’t working right or put another log on the fire or turn the heat up to 85 degrees in his house! He was blessed to be married to Virginia for almost 60 years until her death in 2018. He then went on to learn new homemaking skills in order to live somewhat independently for almost 5 more years in his own home. He eventually accepted some extra assistance from his family and the VA care team. In his last years, he got Bluetooth hearing aids from the VA and figured out how to get help from Siri on his cellphone so he could spend time calling to visit with family and friends. When he wasn’t napping in his recliner, he was watching TV to keep up with the game shows, Razorback sports, the stock market, cattle reports, politics, and current world events. He even figured out YouTube so he could listen to his western swing and gospel music, watch preachers, and learn new things online. He was always thinking and figuring and writing lists or notes on little pieces of scrap paper and he loved to recall memories and tell his old stories until his last day. He encouraged everyone to have a personal faith in Jesus Christ because that was the only way to be together in Heaven again. With his concern of this crazy world, he often said that we needed to be ready to see Jesus’ return because surely it would be happening soon. He had several hospital stays throughout his life that included some serious surgeries, but he always survived them and did the hard work to rehab and come back stronger each time, hoping that he wouldn’t be a burden or end up as an invalid. He often wondered why God didn’t just take him on to Heaven after Virginia passed but said he must have needed more ‘polishing’. On the hot, sunny afternoon of September 26, 2023, Joe was strong enough to do one of the things he loved most and that was to ride his 4-wheeler through his pastures to check on his cows and spray for weeds. And on that day, God saw him as ‘shiny’ enough’ and because of God’s mercy and grace, He called him to his eternal home where Joe got to meet his Lord Jesus face to face and see his Ginna and many family members and friends again. The visitation and viewing will be from 10-11am and the Life Celebration service will be at 11am at the Sisco Chapel in Springdale. The internment service with military honors will take place at the National Cemetery in Fayetteville at 1:30pm for only family and close friends due to space. For those unable to attend, the service will be live- streamed and recorded for future viewing on Sisco Funeral’s Facebook page. In lieu of flowers, please consider donating your time or money to your favorite Christian ministry, your church, a charity -or- go visit a veteran or elderly person in memory of Joe. He will be greatly missed by many until we see him again but meanwhile, we cherish our memories, let his legacy live on in us and remember what he said often…“love never dies”!

Joseph Sidney "Joe" Simco

December 19, 1929 - September 26, 2023