Friends remember a popular Albany school district employee

ALBANY — Friends and co-workers remember Dave Simon as always being there for the kids, whether as a coach, an umpire, or working in the schools.

Simon was a lot of things to a lot of people, but he played an especially important role in the lives of many children.

He worked for 24 years for the Albany school district.

“Dave was a senior hall monitor for me. Dave always worked at some of the toughest schools because he had such a great relationship with the kids,” said Jack Grogan, former Director of Security for the Albany School District.

“He was like a big teddy bear. Dave was a big guy but his caring showed through every time that you would talk to him and you would see him deal with kids and the kids responded to him, knowing that he actually cared.”

Simon was 51 years old when he passed away unexpectedly on December 6.

“It wasn’t just the school district. Dave was known throughout the area, he was a guy who played baseball here for years, he played for the Albany Diamond Dogs years ago and I remember watching him. And I just remember watching how he enjoyed it, how he just enjoyed communicating with people. And that was Dave.”

He was also an elite level umpire and a coach. He worked out all the time.

A GoFundMe for Simon’s family has collected more than $35,000, so far.

Grogan remembers that dave had a smile on his face every day. He was there for the kids, and they felt it.

“It didn’t matter what the situation was,” said Grogan. “Whether it was talking a kid down because he was upset, or something that happened in his home life that affected their day in school– Dave would take care of that. And like I said, Dave was like a father to everybody.”

The Education Fund for Zoey Simon
C/O Cap Com FCU
4 Winners Circle
Albany, NY 12205