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The Honolulu Advertiser
Posted on: Friday, January 11, 2008

Jack Simpson, longtime HVB head, 83

By Curtis Lum
Advertiser Staff Writer

Hawaii news photo - The Honolulu Advertiser

John "Jack" Simpson

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John "Jack" Simpson, who led the Hawai'i Visitors Bureau for 10 years and also served as president of Spencecliff Corp.'s chain of 24 restaurants in Hawai'i, died Jan. 6 in Honolulu. He was 83.

Simpson was born on June 25, 1924, in Honolulu. He graduated from Roosevelt High School and left the Islands in 1942 to attend the University of Oregon.

He enlisted in the Army and served in Europe during World War II. When the war ended, he returned to school in Oregon, where he met and married his wife, Ann.

With an accounting degree in hand, Simpson began his long career in 1949 as an auditor with Price Waterhouse & Co. He would go on to work for Amfac, Hawaiian Pineapple Co. and Peat Marwick Mitchell before being lured by Spence Weaver to head the Spencecliff restaurant chain.

Simpson said in a biography that he resisted working for Weaver because the company "had problems." But he eventually agreed and served as president from 1962 to 1971.

Simpson left Spencecliff when he was named president of what was then called the Hawai'i Visitors Bureau.

During his tenure, Simpson oversaw the marketing and promotion of a growing visitor industry that mirrored the ups and downs of the economy.

He spent much of his time fighting with the Legislature, which was reluctant to boost state spending on the agency. When he left the HVB in 1981, Simpson said he was able to expand and improve advertising, despite state funding that increased an average of just 3.3 percent each year.

"You know what happened to inflation during those years," he said in 1981.

Simpson returned to Spencecliff and took part in the sale of the company to Nittaku Corp., which he worked for until 1989.

For the past 13 years, Simpson was the administrator of Central Union Church in Honolulu.

Newton Pratt, a church trustee, said Simpson oversaw great growth at the church.

"We got two new buildings while he was there and spent about $8 million," Pratt said. "He was a great guy, very competent and a very good family man."

Jim Simpson said his father was a "remarkable man" and also a friend.

"Dad was a real gentleman in the sense that he was gentle and always caring about others," he said. "He was a real man, a captain of industry, father of five, grandfather of 14. He served his country under fire. He was very sophisticated, but he never was showy."

Simpson also was involved in community work and served as an officer with Honolulu Community Theater, Chamber of Commerce of Hawai'i, American Cancer Society, Honolulu Boy Choir, Bishop Museum, Hawai'i Restaurant Association and the Hawai'i Foundation.

He is survived by his wife, Ann; sons, John and James; daughters, Kay Ebert, Gail Owen and Laurie Bugbee; 14 grandchildren; four great-grandchildren; and sister, Helen Young.

Service at 3 p.m. tomorrow at Central Union Church. Donations can be made to the American Cancer Society, P.O. Box 778, Cincinnati, OH, 76889.

Reach Curtis Lum at culum@honoluluadvertiser.com.