Loving tributes for Barrow rugby stalwart and 'phenomenal' man

Loving tributes have been paid to Jeff Simm, who died on Monday after a three-year battle with cancer.

Mr Simm, 67, was the first and only Vickers SC (today called Hawcoat Park) player to represent the county.

The much-respected coach and servant to Hawcoat Park RU and the game won the Service to Sport Award at Cumbria Sports Awards last year.

The popular and well-known rugby man had been diagnosed with bowel cancer at the end of 2013. He thought he had beaten the disease after surgery and treatment at the Royal Preston Hospital that year. But the cancer returned and in June last year he was told that the disease was terminal.

Mr Simm kept fighting the disease and created great memories with his family in his final 14 months.

Mr Simm's family and friends are proud of his bravery and dignity he showed.

He is survived by his wife of 46 years, Kath, their daughters Amanda Chadwick and Michelle Simm, and five grandchildren.

Mrs Kath Simm, 66, said: "Jeff was one of a kind

"What he had, I wish I could bottle it. Everyone would say the same about him. He was a phenomenal guy.

"He was so well-liked, but he was such a humble man.

"He had a brilliant sense of humour.

"Jeff was a gentleman, he doted on his family."

Mrs Simm said her husband was a brilliant rugby player, who rugby minded and club minded. She said if you "cut him in half there'd be a rugby ball inside."

But they remember him best as a "fabulous family man" with a "great connection to people". He had made friends all over the world.

His daughters said their wonderful, kind dad had been the family "safety net". They said he "sorted everything" and he would "do anything for anyone".

Mr Simm was a senior principle commissioning engineer in SMITE at BAE Systems until he was 62. The Roose lad started out as a apprentice at the shipyard and during his career he also worked at Roose and Heysham power stations.

In the later years he was an engineering assessor at Furness College.

Mrs Simm, said: "Everywhere you would go people knew Jeff, the grandchildren would ask 'why do people know granddad?"

She said her husband had a positive approach to his illness. He liked the way his doctor, Dr Biswas, at Furness General Hospital's Oncology Unit, brought a sporting terminology to their discussion.

"Jeff laughed so much," she said.

Mrs Simm, who laughs when she recalls her husband turned up to their wedding with a blackeye from a rugby match, said: "Someone said to him, why don't you do a bucket list, but he said 'there is nothing, my life is so fulfilled', apart from getting his county cap."

His family were able to make his wish happen. His daughter Michelle Simm had worked with the late international rugby referee Colin High to get Mr Simm's cap for him. Ms Michelle Simm said they will always be grateful for Mr High.

The cap was presented to him at the first Jeff Simm Rugby 7s event at Hawcoat Park, a sporting revival he had organised with his family.

The event in 2015 raised £8,000 for cancer charities.

It was staged again in June and successfully raised funds for FGH Oncology Unit and lymphedema services. Mr Simm even scored the first try in a cameo role.

The family say the annual Rugby 7s event will be part of his legacy. The event will be held on May 28 next year and will have a junior element too.

Alongside rugby the family said some people may not know that Mr Simm was also a gardener, a champion onion grower, a DIY whizz and a drummer.

They have thanked family and friends for all the love and support.

They have also thanked the team at FGH Oncology Unit, the district nurses and the medic at the Royal Preston Hospital.

Mr Simm's funeral is to take place at St Paul's Church, in Barrow, on Thursday September 8 at 1.30pm. A service at Thorncliffe Crematorium will follow at 2.30pm. The wake will be held at Hawcoat Park Sports Club.

Tributes to 'fierce competitor' and 'good friend' as Barrow rugby stalwart dies aged 67

Hawcoat Park servant Jeff celebrates 'brilliant' 7s comp