Our History

Elsie Corrine Simpson, aka Mimi - dob. 05-18-14

Elsie is the true matriarch of this family, reigning over 6 grandchildren and 16 great grandchildren on our side alone.  While the younger generation know her as "Mimi" I call her Mom.  Elsie was born in the small Arkansas town of DeVals Bluff and spent the first 8 or 9 years of her life there.  Her father was a rice farmer and some of Mom's happiest memories are of helping her dad work the fields on the back of a tractor.  She also has some good stories to tell about the family horse, Pet.  Around 1923 the Simpsons moved to Hot Springs where Mom lived until her marriage to Jack Lambert, aka Grandy, in the summer of 1940.  As a married couple they set up housekeeping in Coral Gables, Florida.  I was born just as World War II broke out and my sister arrived 18 months later, to the day.  In the spring of 1951 we relocated to Baltimore and Dad worked as an engineer in the early years of space exploration.  With Johns Hopkins University virtually around the corner both Mom and Dad got their undergraduate diplomas and Mom began her long career as a teacher.  We moved several times over the next few years as Dad accepted new and exciting job offers in his chosen profession.  By 1957 we had settled in Lexington, Massachusetts where Mom worked for the Concord school system, first as a remedial reading specialist and later as the school psychometrist. (This means she gave IQ tests to the students.)  The Lamberts retired in 1979 and their life came full circle, they returned to their roots in Hot Springs.    With much sadness I report that my mom passed over the Rainbow Bridge on Tuesday, September 21, 2004.  My life will never be the same.

Jack Rider Lambert, aka Grandy - dob. 01-16-10

If Mimi is the matriarch of this family then Grandy is the patriarch.  His parents owned a hotel-boarding house in the center of Hot Springs, Arkansas, the Enox, where he was born in 1910 and was raised there by an extended family of parents, grandparents and great grandparents.  Ira, his dad, was a plumber by trade and mom, Kate, had a degree from the local normal school.  Dad attended college at the University of Arkansas for 2 years but the Great Depression was on the horizon in 1929 and he was forced to abandon his education and get a job.  Since he had relatives in Minnesota who had connections to a banking career Dad left Arkansas for 2 years to pursue this possibility.  While in Minnesota he relaxed on weekends by "jammin" as the drummer with a local amateur band.  Dad's claim to fame was that he had several opportunities to perform with the legendary Lawrence Welk, a virtual unknown in 1929!  Banking didn't turn out to be Dad's calling and in 1931 he joined the US Navy, traveling the world for the next 9 years as an ensign.  By the early 40's he was back in Arkansas on military leave and made the life altering decision to marry Elsie, the girl next door, and the rest is history.  Jack and Elsie exchanged nuptial vows on June 21, 1940, and moved to Florida to begin their communal life.  Dad worked for the now defunct Pan American Airlines for several years, setting up radio navigation stations for the airlines, many of which are still in operation today.  Eventually he moved to Baltimore, attended Johns Hopkins University to obtain a BS degree in electrical engineering, and then worked with some of the premier scientists involved in space age exploration.  Our family traveled the east US from 1951 to 1957 as Dad worked for various prestigious engineering firms and we eventually settled in Lexington, Massachusetts.  Mercury Redstone3 with Allan Shepard was launched in 1961, thanks in part to my dad's ingenuity.  After a long and fulfilling career as a scientist, Mom and Dad returned to Hot Springs, Arkansas in 1979 to begin the leisurely life they both deserved.  Sadly, Dad crossed the Rainbow Bridge on Sunday, May 28, 2006, to join his beloved wife of 64 years, my mom.