Julian Raymond Simōn

Julian R. Simōn Lakeland - By no means will these simple words encompass the life of Julian Raymond Simōn, They will merely highlight the genuine, true, and beautiful man that he was. Born Halloween of 1935, in Ybor City to Julian Simōn and Angelina Testa-Secca Simōn, Julian graduated from St. Joseph’s Academy in 1950 and Lakeland High School in 1954. He earned a degree in Design from Florida State University in 1958. Next, Julian served his country in the United States Army through two years of active and four years of reserve duty. He, then, partnered with his father in 1960, becoming a registered Landscape Architect for the State of Florida. Julian worked hard in the hot sun and shared his extensive knowledge of plants until his retirement in 2005. Julian will be sorely missed by Sondra Sumner Simōn, his sweet and tiny wife of 45 years, whom he dated off and on for 15 years, before eloping to Sanibel Island in June of 1974; his eclectic and kind daughter, Sabrina Simōn Simōn; his bright, shining star of a granddaughter, Guinevere Sanibel Simōn; his first cousin, Joe Testa-Secca and his wife, Rosalie Testa-Secca; his adopted son Dustin Calhoun and husband, Dr. Todd Hall; his niece Angelique Ward and her sons, his grandnephews, Paul, Hagen, and Daniel; and all his loving nieces and nephews on Sondra’s side; all his long time Simōn’s Nursery’s customers; and all manner of childhood, college, army, and Lakeland friends old and new. To say he was a good man would be trite. He was a quandary solver, with a pen always at the ready, an idea man, and napkin sketcher. He was a charismatic storyteller and always made friends with good people, who liked sharing interesting conversation like he did. He had a candid and frank form of communication, where he always got his point across. And if he thought something was done well, he made sure that you knew. Julian was a purveyor of the most spectacular sense of humor, jokes, and the grandest laugh. It is an understatement to say that Julian was a lover and creator of good design and art. He was collector of all things beautiful, a flea market connoisseur, and a lover of old cars (especially his ’56 Lincoln). He had an innate ability to create beautiful landscaping that would survive the test of time and Florida’s weather. He was an artist and master of many mediums–ink, paint, clay, silver, wood, and metal–creating something every single day. But Julian’s passion was design. He created beautiful contemporary furniture, designed houses, lights, sculptures, thousands of beautifully functional landscape plans, and the St. Joseph’s Bell tower and complimentary stained glass. He loved bringing beauty into the world and did so fervently with every opportunity he had. He did not go gentle into that good night. He raged bravely against the dying of the light because at the close of day, he loved life, and he loved the people with whom he shared his life so very much. In lieu of flowers Julian would tell you to go plant a tree or make a donation to Good Shepherd Hospice House or to St. Joseph’s Academy in his honor. The family requests if you attend Julian’s funeral services held at St. Joseph’s Church Lakeland on August 2nd, 2019 at 10am that you wear bright colors (orange was Julian’s favorite color by the way) because as Julian would say, dark colors are just too darn depressing.