Paul Dana Simpson, 83, beloved son of the late Reverend Clifford O. Simpson and the late Elizabeth (French) Simpson, passed away on March 6th after a courageous struggle with cancer. Paul was born on January 27, 1938 in Manchester, Connecticut. He attended Manchester High School where he enjoyed studying Latin and French and participated on the swim team. Paul majored in history at Oberlin College before graduating from Harvard Divinity School in 1964. His spiritual and intellectual studies continued throughout his life at Fuller Theological Seminary, Yale Divinity School, St. John’s University, and Middlebury College.
Paul’s ministry began in 1964 when he was ordained into the United Church of Christ. He later served as a United Church of Christ minister in parishes in New Hampshire, Connecticut, and Ohio. Paul moved to the Community of Jesus in Orleans, Massachusetts in 1979 where he served as part of the clergy team. He became a Brother of the Community in 1997, at which time he took the monastic name of Brother Gregory Simpson. Throughout his years at the Community, Paul served in a myriad of roles and demonstrated a unique love for language and liturgy. In 1999 he wrote and published The Nicene Creed for Today to explain how the fourth-century Nicene Creed is, in essence, a contemporary piece of Christian writing.
He leaves behind his three children: Heather Ann Simpson of Berlin, Massachusetts and her family, Sean Regan, Aidan, Niall, and Keevan; Dana (Dean) Badger Simpson of Massachusetts, and his family, Ana Simpson, Kyle, and Ethan; and Nathaniel Harding Simpson and his wife, Marcela Maria Simpson of Easthampton, Massachusetts, and their children, Joshua and his wife Ellie, Daniel, and Naomi. He also leaves behind his former spouse and lifelong friend, Martha Badger Simpson of East Windsor, Connecticut, and two sisters, Anne Simpson of Manchester, Connecticut, and Martha Broda of Chapel Hill, North Carolina.
The service will be private due to the pandemic.
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