Artesia News

Beloved Father and Husband -- "Pop"


Antonio Anselmo Simoes was born August 10, 1942 on the island of Terceira, Azores, off the coast of Portugal. Antonio died June 4, 2005, after battling for nine months against cancer. He is survived by his wife, Kathleen; his son, Tony, Jr.; his daughters Christina, Catherine, and Elizabeth; a grandson; Jack; and six siblings. His own children referred to him as “Pop”.

Antonio’s passions in life were his family, Dodgers baseball, landscaping, and gardening. Indeed, in Artesia Antonio was one of the most recognizable men around, driving around in his blue truck with a trailer hitched at its rear as he did his gardening rounds. People would wave and he’d kindly return the gesture. When people noticed that Antonio wasn’t driving around anymore, they asked, “Whatever happened to that old man?” He was a gardener in Artesia for 24 years.

Antonio was remembered as being mischievous as well. There is a story that Antonio went streaking across Artesia’s Portuguese Hall, and that once he rode a horse on the 91 freeway. His son, Tony Jr., said these were all rumors that his father denied, but even if untrue, they hint at the fun-loving character of Antonio.

In Terceira, Antonio lived as a farm hand with his father until he reached 17 years old. At 17, Antonio moved to Brazil, where he worked as a meat cutter for nine years. Antonio next moved to the U.S., and first resided in Eureka, CA, where he worked as a dairyman. After a few months in Eureka, an old friend who used to live next to Antonio back in Terceires called him, offering a job as a butcher in Santa Fe Springs. His friend lived in Artesia. Antonio packed up his things and went to Artesia, making the commute to Santa Fe Springs for 10 years until he decided to take up gardening and landscaping full time.

His son, Tony Jr., said of his father, “He was a great father, a great person. He’d give you the shirt off his back, the last dollar in his pocket, if he knew you needed help.”

Tony Jr., an employee of the Artesia’s Public Works Dept., recounted something his father said to him. “Always work doing something that people need, like a teacher or a doctor … so you never work as hard as I did.”

“He’s greatly missed,” said Tony Jr., “he is a man who stood to himself.



 

 

 

 

 

 

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