Troy Simpson Jr., who was instrumental in developing Southwest Tennessee Community College’s Continuing Education Program, died June 13 at St. Francis Hospital from complications of COVID-19 and underlying health conditions. He was 79.
Mr. Simpson served as the dean of Continuing Education for more than 25 years and worked to develop educational opportunities throughout the greater Memphis community.
Southwest was named Shelby State Community College when it began to build its Continuing Education Department with programs and curricula for working adults who were not traditional students. Mr. Simpson joined the staff and was instrumental in building up the department.
The fourth of eight children, Mr. Simpson was born in West Memphis on Jan. 3, 1941 to Troy Simpson Sr. and Irene McWright Simpson.
“My grandmother used to joke that my father was probably more than the 13 pounds they said he was because that was as far as the scale would go,” said Stephanie Simpson, his youngest daughter.
Mr. Simpson grew up in Beautiful Zion Baptist Church in West Memphis. After moving to Memphis, he became a member of Monumental Baptist Church, where the Rev. Samuel “Billy” Kyles was long-time pastor.
“My father loved being a son of the South,” Stephanie Simpson said. “He would always talk about being from the Delta Region. And he was a born storyteller. Much of the oral history of our family was kept alive with his stories.”
Mr. Simpson graduated from Wonder High School in West Memphis in 1958 and continued his education at the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff after returning from honorably serving in the U.S. Army.
After completing his master’s degree in social work at the University of Illinois, Champaign Urbana, he worked for the Illinois Department of Mental Health.
In 1972, he returned to the South and settled in Memphis.
Mr. Simpson was a proud, 50-plus-year member and former president of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc. Alpha Delta Lambda chapter graduate chapter.
“My mother was an AKA and my dad was an Alpha,” Stephanie Simpson said. “He loved his fraternity brothers and the organization.”
Additionally, Mr. Simpson also was a member of the 1980 executive class of Leadership Memphis.
His personable and gregarious personality made him a great change agent, using those traits and personal-contacts network to bring more opportunities to Southwest’s Continuing Education students.
In 2013, after retirement, Mr. Simpson suffered a stroke and moved to the Glenmary Senior Assisted Living Community. He was well-liked and enjoyed talking with fellow residents.
“He was voted ‘Mr. Glenmary’ by the residents, and he was so proud of that,” Stephanie Simpson said. “He was infected with COVID-19 inside the facility, but we realize that it’s difficult for the staff to keep everyone safe once the virus gets in. They are in such close proximity.”
Before he died, his daughter said he had become nonverbal, as complications developed on some underlying medical conditions.
“Although we were restricted from seeing him and being there with dad, he knew we loved him,” Stephanie Simpson said.
Mr. Simpson is survived by two siblings, Cleve Simpson and Ruby Jean Richardson; three daughters, Angela, Joycelyn and Stephanie; two grandchildren, three great-grandchildren and a host of nieces, nephews, and cousins.
M.J. Edwards Funeral Home (Whitehaven) had charge of funeral arrangements.
