Clinton Patrick Simkins

Clinton Patrick Simkins, 82, of Boise, passed away Friday, March 27, 2020, unexpectedly and suddenly after a massive heart attack at home the day before. We were told that his heart was greatly enlarged ... but in truth there are eleven of us who have always been intimately aware of his great heart.... So our grand legendary story teller has completed his earthly journey and taken that final step into eternity to be with his Lord, and his dearly beloved ones who have gone before him ... his daughter Barb, his parents, sisters and brother. Our sweet sweet memories and the sure certainty of his large heart and grand “enlarged” love will be our constant comfort in the days and years ahead, until we meet again. Because of the statewide COVID-19 isolation order, Rosary and funeral Mass will be celebrated by family only at St. Mark’s Catholic Church on Wednesday, April 1st. The 9:00 am service will be live-streamed so others can attend virtually. Arrangements are being made by Accent Funeral Home so the virtual link can be found at https://www.stmarksboise.org/. Private family interment service will be at Cloverdale Cemetery. Although Clint was born on a sunny spring day on the 27th of April in 1937 in Lewistown, Montana, “according to Clint” there may have been a great blizzard that day, as he led us all to believe that a majority of his childhood was actually spent walking to and from school backwards, uphill in a snowstorm…both ways. Even when his older sisters tried to tell it differently, none of us ever really believed their versions, as it was always more fun to hear his ... thus, “tell us YOUR story again, Grandpa”.. As the sixth child of the Simkins Magnificent Seven born to Leslie and Marguerite Simkins in Lewistown, Clint and his baby brother, Bob, were swell young men that devoted their lives to undermining the well-being and good intentions of their doting sisters and older brother, all while deftly trying to avoid trouble at St. Leo’s Catholic School -- because if they misbehaved, their Mom would be waiting at the front door with her hands on her hips. Of course, “according to Clint” they were the only altar servers who ever had to get up before sunrise and walk to St. Leo’s to serve at daily Mass ... still they were pretty perfect servers because the Sisters had prayerful eyes on them in the front row. Clint and his brother had an idyllic childhood with fine memories of small town freedom to run and play. He loved the school and church processions, playing ball, sledding in the winter on a coal shovel, being chased out of the garden by their Grandma when they went hunting for carrots to snack on! Come summer, every morning was a race to see who could get in the full-block swimming pool in the park, which was fed by cold spring water. After their first year at St. Leo’s High School, their dad was transferred by the Milwaukee Railroad to Harlowton, where the two boys would now go to a public high school to finish out their education. The transition at that vulnerable teen age was difficult for Clint at first so he immersed himself in sports, specifically basketball. He was pretty much a starter, as he perfected his sweet hook shot, was honored as “Ace Rebounder”, and generally loved playing ball. Since all games in small towns are the big social event, whole towns caravanned to neighboring towns for the weekly event; among those following the team were his brother Bob, and their lifelong friend, Donny Anderson. Upon graduation in 1956, Clint joined the Army National Guard, attended boot camp at Fort Ord, and finished his six months training in Fort Lee, Virginia. He next attended Rocky Mountain College in Billings on a basketball scholarship but there was a new class of basketball players from Chicago and the Crow Indian Reservation so he played less and less. Even so, he was thrilled to play with the likes of Larry Pretty Weasel and Bob Little Light. So he left college after two years, moving to Helena to work for the Montana National Guard in 1959, where he became great friends with Donny Magill. It was in Helena that year, where all the young people hung out at the R-B Drive-In and cruised Last Chance Gulch, that -- depending on which humorous story you believe -- he initiated a conversation on New Year’s Eve with his future wife, Karen Koehler -- or you might hear another version where she claimed she had met him earlier and he didn’t remember.... Either way, he asked her for a date and got lost trying to find where she lived with her parents in the mountain community of York. Yes, this was the beginning of Clint’s well-earned reputation of getting lost -- he took a wrong road, ended up in Canyon Ferry and only finally arrived at York two hours late. Their relationship bloomed in spite of a few obstacles - not the least of which was that her parents were not enamored of the idea of their daughter marrying a Catholic, so when told his future in-laws required them to be married in their church, the matter was quickly settled when Clint said quietly but firmly, “I don’t know where you’re getting married, but I’m getting married in the Catholic Church.” August 20, 1960 was the day they tied the knot in the Cathedral of St. Helena, and they never looked back. A short honeymoon to Grand Coulee Dam, which ended in Spokane as we ran out of money, included going to a drive-in theater to watch “The Ten Commandments”! We had to sell pop bottles to get enough gas to get back to Helena! Soon along came Nancy, Barbara, and Steve and our family was complete. But in the midst of all this happiness, Clint developed appendicitis, which subsequently burst and then was misdiagnosed for six months. Quite often fatal if not treated, instead the infection had localized into an intestinal abcess which eventually led to four major surgeries. The resulting removal of seven feet of small intestine led to a lifetime of complicated and uncomfortable digestive situations. But being persistent and learning to adapt to appropriate diets, his health rebounded for a while. In 1970, he left his ANG job and went to Carroll College to complete a Finance degree in 1972. Still another bump in the road regarding his health took place when it was discovered his constant fatigue was due to a critical lack of B12. It turned out the large section of his small intestine that was missing was critical for absorbing B12 into his bloodstream. But once he began taking lifetime injections of B12 , he was “back in business”. After graduation from Carroll, the family loaded up the car and headed for Boise, where they have resided ever since. Clint worked first at the Bureau of Reclamation and Trus-Joist, and then major complications developed with an obstruction in the small bowel. Difficulty in diagnosing again led him to OHSU in Portland where an amazing gastro-enterologist, a special radiologist and a first-class surgeon solved the mystery in a 5-week hospitalization. He was returned to health but was instructed to take 6 months to rest and recuperate. Once able to go back to work, he worked at Albertson’s, and in semi-retirement at the Depts. of Lands and Fish & Game. Throughout life’s journey, Clint continued to enjoy physical activities, hilariously creating or recreating his own history and lovingly, kindly, adoring his family. He always walked religiously every day, was excellent at throwing horseshoes and pitching on local softball teams. In 1997, even though personal tragedy struck as our middle daughter, Barb, died of leukemia, joy was never more evident than when surrounded by those five ‘perfect grandchildren’ whom he adored, and they became the center of his life. If you ever saw his license plate ‘My Grandkids are Cuter than Yours’ ... well… he meant it! Once these grandchildren were old enough to throw a ball, kick a goal, swing a tennis racquet, play a piano or listen to one of his famous stories, he was their biggest fan. Each of his grandchildren could count his face among the crowd at literally every ballgame or event. And each of his grandchildren can easily stitch together a piece of one of his hilarious life stories ... which often changed or were embellished in ways only Clint could do! You never knew which version you were going to hear, but you WOULD hear it several times! Perhaps his most infamous story is when he told the little grand-girls he had served in “WWIII on the islands of Booga-Booga” -- and Maya proudly recounted his story to her pre-school class on Veterans Day!! A highlight of our lives together was being able to pilgrimage, not just once but three times, with Jon and Jane Weis to Rome, Assisi, and Medjugorje. Clint dreaded the long flights ‘over the pond’ but trusted Jane to keep the turbulence at a minimum! He wouldn’t consider traveling with anyone else. After retirement, he never missed “walking 5 miles every day” and if it ever turned out to be only 2-3 miles, he would still say “it WAS 5 miles”. These walks often began at the “Roastere”, then around the neighborhoods and Cloverdale Cemetery. With the development of Kleiner Park in Meridian, this daily walk always included the Rosary and neither “rain or snow or wind or hail” stopped us. He made sure Karen got the benefit of keeping fit with the morning “invitation” of “C’mon, let’s go!” His devotion to that routine and staying fit naturally has been an inspiration to our kids and grandkids. He even put in five miles of walking around the big pond at Kleiner the day he left us! Whether he was mowing the lawn or working around the house, attending weekly Legion of Mary prayers at Nazareth, joining Karen at St. Mark’s parish Respect Life or Salt & Light radio events, or bragging about his kids or grandkids, you could rest assured he kindly awaited your laughs and loved hearing your own stories. Clint was preceded in death by his parents, Les and Marguerite; daughter, Barb; sisters: “Toots” Hay, Betty Lieberg, “Jim” Quinn, Shirley Reardon, and brother, Bob. He is survived by his wife, Karen; daughter, Nancy Simkins-Labbe and her husband, John of Meridian; son, Steve and wife, Tracy of Mesa, Arizona. He is also survived by “those grandkids”: Cade Labbe of Colorado Springs, CO, Grant Labbe of Meridian, Zoe Simkins of Phoenix, AZ, Chase Labbe of Caldwell, and Maya Simkins of Salt Lake City, UT and brother and sister-in-law, Les and Kim Simkins of Helena, MT as well as numerous nieces and nephews. The family suggests memorials in memory of Clint may be made to St. Vincent de Paul (https://www.svdpid.org/home/), Idaho Diaper Bank (http://www.idahodiaperbank.org/), or St. Mark’s Respect Life Ministry projects (https://www.stmarksboise.org/respectlife).