Remembering Tom Simonseth

Thomas Allen Simonseth was born January 17, 1955, in Mount Vernon, Washington, to Norman and Irene Simonseth.  Tom went missing during a hike on May 22, 2021 on the Hidden Lake Trail near Marblemount, Washington.  He was later found on July 29, 2021 by his lifelong friend, Mike Woodmansee, and fellow hiker and friend, Mark Nelson.

Over his entire life, Tom was known for his athleticism and love of sports.  As a young boy growing up on the hill area of Mount Vernon in a neighborhood bursting with active kids, Tom's life was full of games and sports, city block-sized games of kick the can, ball tag, and hide and go seek, building go-carts to challenge the trails of Hillcrest Park, bicycling up Blackburn Hill, hiking Little Mountain, playing football, basketball and baseball… day and night.  So strong was Tom's love of shooting hoops that his father put a light on the family patio/basketball court so Tom and his friends could play basketball… nearly all night.

Mike Woodmansee recalls a few memorable things about growing up with Tom.  First, Tom was a generational athlete, the best all-around athlete of his generation in Mount Vernon.  Try as they might, all neighborhood kids soon learned that to play with Tom meant you would have great fun, you would be challenged, and you would lose.  Second, Mike recalls going to the very first day of first grade at Jefferson School sporting one black eye, while Tom sported two black eyes.  Seems they were playing baseball in the Simonseths' yard with Tom's older brother and his friends, when Mike took a baseball in the left eye and ran home crying.  Once recovered, he returned to the Simonseths' yard to discover that Tom was playing catcher a bit too close to the batter and was hit squarely in the nose by a baseball bat. Ouch!  Finally, Mike recalls spending what seemed like a year of his childhood waiting for Tom to tie his tennis shoes so they could go out and play.  Always fastidious, Tom would start with the very first lace down by the toe of his shoe, methodically and slowly adjusting every individual lace, eventually reaching the top and tying his shoe.  Then it was on to the next shoe.  Mike still chuckles about the ordeal of waiting for Tom to tie his shoes.

Tom attended Mount Vernon High School, where he continued to excel at basketball, football and baseball, earning varsity letters in all three sports for three years, as well as multiple All-Northwest League honors.  Tom was quarterback for the Bulldogs his senior year, leading Mount Vernon to an 8-2 record, losing only to Marysville and the school in the small town across the Skagit River from Mount Vernon… Burlington.  Always a sportsman, Tom never taunted or tormented a rival, and never raved in self-adulation during his many on-court or on-field achievements.  Tom let his game speak for him.  While Tom did graduate from Mount Vernon High School, he did not, in fact, attend graduation.  Every senior on the 1973 Mount Vernon High School Baseball Team missed the graduation ceremony because they were playing in the Washington State High School Baseball Championships (finishing third in state).  These young men, Tom included, did make it home late graduation night just in time to join their classmates on what was at the time the traditional Mount Vernon High School celebratory graduation cruise through the San Juan Islands on a chartered Washington State Ferry.

Moving forward in life, Tom attended Skagit Valley College in the fall of 1973, graduating in 1975 with an Associate of Arts Degree in general education.  He attended the University of Washington and later transferred to Western Washington University, where he graduated in 1978 with a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Education.  Soon thereafter, Tom began his teaching career at Port Susan Middle School in Stanwood, Washington, where he taught mathematics.  He was later employed by Stanwood High School, again teaching mathematics, and ultimately spent the last fourteen years of his career teaching mathematics at Lakewood High School in Smokey Point, retiring in 2020.  While a career math teacher, Tom was also an excellent writer, constructing sentences with the economy and precision of a mathematics equation.  Tom's writing is interesting and heartfelt to read, you can feel him in his words.

While spending his career as a teacher, Tom also spent many years coaching girls' basketball at the AAU and High School level, much of which centered upon coaching his daughters as they too loved the game of basketball.  As if this were not enough activity, Tom was an accomplished and dedicated runner, completing many marathons and other running events.

Former students and student athletes, fellow teaching staff, family and friends describe Tom as a man of high integrity; honest, compassionate, thoughtful, patriotic, humble, and kind.

On September 17, 2004, Tom married the love of his life, Rose Johnson Simonseth.  Tom and Rose lived on a small farm in east Mount Vernon.  Not being raised with pets or livestock, Tom's life changed markedly after marrying Rose, an animal lover.  Tom was introduced to Rose's Labradors and cadre of cats.  On their first anniversary they each bought the other a baby goat, and that was the start of their menagerie.  In addition to the goats, they added sheep, a pony, two donkeys, a mare, her colt, various cats, dogs and chickens.  Mike recalls Tom explaining to him how he tried to break a horse, fetched chicken eggs, cleaned stalls, rounded up stray animals, fixed fences and cared for acres of yard and pasture.  It was difficult for Mike not to laugh at Tom's rather serious descriptions of farm life, knowing that, until Tom met Rose, he may have never even petted a cat or dog.  It was definitely a measure of Tom's love for Rose that he took on all of these new and strange (for him) experiences and grew to love all of these animals and even the chores.

Tom and Rose enjoyed numerous trips to Hawaii, entertaining at home, and attending Husky football games.  Their greatest enjoyment, however, was spending time together at home, cooking meals, and taking care of the house, grounds and animals.

Tom was preceded in death by his father, Norman Simonseth, and his brother, Brian Simonseth.

Tom is survived by Rose, his loving wife of 17 years; his mother, Irene Simonseth; his brother, Mike (Sue) Simonseth; and stepdaughter Marga Hilde Ellis.  Tom is also survived by his daughters, Kristen (Cory) Madeiros, and Megan Simonseth.

There will be a memorial service on May 22, 2022 (one year from when Tom went missing) at the North Cascade Seventh-day Adventist Church in Burlington, Washington at 11:00 a.m.  After the service, a Celebration of Life, "Remembering Tom," will be held at the family home at 3:30 p.m.  Family, friends and loved ones will be welcome to share thoughts or memories of Tom.  There will be food, refreshments and music.

While family and friends were so overwhelmingly generous in supporting the weeks-long search for Tom, as well as assisting Rose through the weeks of anguish and uncertainty while helping maintain the farm and care for all of the animals, for those who would like to further remember and honor Tom, in lieu of flowers, donations are suggested to S.A.I.N., Skagit Animals in Need, P.O. Box 503, Mount Vernon, WA 98273.