Ed was born July 11, 1926, to Agnes LaLande and Edward G. Simonsen and raised in Upper Darby, Pa., where he went to high school. He was in the Army when World War II ended, and then came to Princeton.
Ed left at the end of sophomore year to go to law school at Temple. Soon after, the Korean War started and the Army called him up for duty in Korea. He was badly wounded there and eventually separated on permanent physical disability in July 1951, having received a Purple Heart. He changed affiliation from the Class of ’52 to ’51 in October 1951, but never completed his degree.
His business career took him to East Asia, New Zealand, and Australia, where he worked for American corporations entering into those local economies, including Consolidated Foods Corp., Best Foods, Knorr Foods, Chesebrough-Ponds, the Allen Group, and Multi-National Development Services Inc.
From 1981 to 1985 he was trade counselor at the U.S. embassy in Australia. His marriage to Lorraine Doneley ended in divorce. Ed died Nov. 5, 2013, and is survived by his daughter, Breta; two grandchildren; niece Kristin; and two nephews. His sister, Doris Hoppmann, predeceased him.