By Nicole Hamilton
The Cincinnati Enquirer

Simpson

Charles "Sonny" Simpson cared deeply about his students at Withrow High School in Hyde Park.

When one said she wouldn't able to attend her senior prom or go through commencement because she didn't have the money, Mr. Simpson bought her prom dress and paid her graduation dues.

Later, the student paid him a visit while he lay in bed recovering from a massive stroke.

"She told him he had to get up," said Mr. Simpson's sister, Rosemary Turner of Evanston.

"She said he had one more thing he had to do for her - and that was walk her down the aisle."

Mr. Simpson died Friday at Deupree Community in Oakley of complications from the stroke. The former Walnut Hills resident was 69.

Some of Mr. Simpson's students were looked at "as the lost group," said Ms. Turner, "but he extended a hand to them," giving them the encouragement they needed to be successful both in and out of school.

He often talked low-achieving students into staying in school, and many of them have now gone on to college.

"We have beautiful young people here," Mr. Simpson told The Cincinnati Enquirer in 1995 about Withrow, a public school, "and no one knows about them. It would be easy for me to go home and shut the door, but there's too much to be done. There's so many things we adults need to do."

Raised in Walnut Hills, Mr. Simpson graduated from Withrow in 1951. He earned a bachelor's degree from West Virginia State University, where he majored in French and history.

Mr. Simpson enlisted in the Army during college and, after graduation, began three years of active military duty. He was honorably discharged as a first lieutenant in July 1958.

He returned to Cincinnati and worked briefly as a teacher in Cincinnati middle schools before moving to Los Angeles, where he taught ex-offenders and was an English teacher for Korean immigrants.

In 1974, Mr. Simpson moved back to Cincinnati and continued teaching ex-offenders.

Shortly thereafter, he resumed his career with Cincinnati Public Schools - eventually accepting a position as a French and social studies teacher at his alma mater. He retired in 1999.

His belief that students need role models led him to form Withrow High's alumni association and the Withrow Hall of Fame, with such inductees as nature painter John Ruthven, jazz singer Kathy Wade and the late Ruth Lyons. He oversaw a school pep club and was proud of the school's International Baccalaureate program.

"He never really left school," said Ms. Turner. "After school, he'd stay to tutor students."

Mr. Simpson spent his free time reading black history, going to plays, doing jigsaw puzzles and listening to old standards and classical music.

Besides his sister, other survivors include a son, Ralph Charles Simpson of Atlanta; a daughter, Rosemary Robin-Herron of Warren, Ohio; two uncles; an aunt; and several cousins.

Visitation will be at 10 a.m. Saturday at Bethel Baptist Church, 2712 Alms Place, Walnut Hills. Service will follow, at 11 a.m., at the church. Burial will be in Walnut Hills Cemetery.

Memorials: Withrow High School, 2488 Madison Road, Cincinnati, 45208.

Email: nhamilton@enquirer.com