North Belfast man was former President of Irish Hockey Union

He was born in Cliftonville in September 1916 and attended Belfast Royal Academical Institute, where he was vice-captain of the First XI cricket team. He was an enthusiast of both cricket and hockey and later played for Cliftonville.

He was a senior administrative figure within the sport, holding office as honorary secretary in the Ulster Branch Council for 19 years and acting as President in 1965, the same year in which he was awarded the Federation of International Hockey Badge.

He was also a Past President of the Ulster Umpires Association, was a hockey selector for Ulster and Ireland, and held the office of President of the Irish Hockey Union in 1974-75.

Mr. Simon worked in England and Wales for a period after leaving school and became a successful sales manager for Bachelors Foods. His father was the local manager of the company and he later returned to Northern Ireland to assist him. He remained with the company until his retirement in 1977.

He met his future wife, May Woolfenden, in Manchester and they married in April 1941.

But on their return to Belfast, the couple were met at the docks by a friend to be told the devastating news that his parents and brother Geoffrey, a gifted violinist, had died when their home in Sunningdale Park in the city was bombed during the Belfast Blitz.

The April 1941 Blitz by the Luftwaffe resulted in over 900 deaths and around 1,500 were injured, with most of the housing stock in Belfast damaged in some way.

Des and May Simon set up their home on the Shore Road, and he became a Corporal in the Home Guard while his wife was a member of the Women’s Voluntary Service.

Mr. Simon was a member of Whitehouse Presbyterian Church, where a thanksgiving service was held on January 3.

May predeceased her husband in 2002. Des is survived by son Geoff and wife Melody and daughter Shirley and husband David, four grandchildren and seven great-grandchildren.