The Simons family of Warwick, descendants of Joseph Hilgrove Simons (1874–1948) and his wife Lillian Isabel (1874–1929), have long regarded themselves as one large extended family. Joseph and Lillian raised ten children to adulthood, creating a legacy that continues through many generations.
Joseph was a farmer whose land stretched across Cedar Hill and part of what is now Belmont Hills Golf Course. The family homestead on Cedar Hill remains in the family today.
St. Mary the Virgin Church became the heart of family life. Joseph established traditions that kept the family connected through worship, fellowship and service. His children were baptised, confirmed and married there, and many were later laid to rest there. Today, many descendants remain members of St. Mary’s.
Over the generations, Simons family members have served the church and Diocese in countless ways: as choir members, acolytes, flower arrangers, Guild and Vestry members, ministry team members, Church Wardens, Synod members.
Christmas and Easter continue to draw the family back to St. Mary’s. Although many now worship elsewhere or live beyond Warwick, “the return” to St. Mary’s remains a cherished tradition, marked by family photographs, laughter and reunions with cousins.
Another treasured custom began with Joseph’s family: after church on Christmas Day, relatives would visit one another’s homes. This tradition carried on, even after the passing of Joseph in 1948.
As children, family members remember walking to “Uncle Early’s” house after Sunday School for snacks and games. Though the venue has changed with each generation, the tradition endures.
For the past thirty years, Simons family reunions have been held in St. Mary’s Church Hall, not because it was convenient, but because it is part of who we are. Generations of our family worshipped, served, celebrated, mourned there; St Mary’s represents a “homecoming” to a place that quietly holds our family’s story.
