Obituary
Simon P. Roper, age 67, of Edgewater, FL passed away peacefully in his home on April 20, 2021. Born to Diana and Ronald Roper in Worksop, England, Simon came to the United States in 1976 and worked as a General Contractor for over 36 years in the Edgewater and New Smyrna Beach area. He was well known and maintained a reputation of Integrity and Honesty throughout his career as a builder, often building homes for repeat customers and their family members. With his warm, friendly and outgoing nature he made many friends and maintained those friendships for many years. Simon was a lifelong “student” of life and enjoyed many interests that included Reading, Holistic Medicine, varied genres of music, woodworking, gardening, travel, Nascar and Formula One. Also, he attended the Rolex 24 Hour Race every year. Simon attended Edgewater Alliance Church and of all the varied and amazing experiences that he approached exuberantly, he counted becoming a Follower of Christ as the most important experience of his life. He is preceded in death by his parents. Survived by his soulmate and devoted wife, Lauren, of 24 years, Sons, Deven (Clara) Roper of South Daytona and Joshua (Lori) Roper of Edgewater, Grandchildren, Collin and Rose, Brothers, Jason (Elizabeth) Roper and Paul Roper and Sister, Nina Roper. Lauren would like to thank Tracey and Melissa, RN’s of Halifax Hospice whose kindness and compassion were so appreciated as they assisted his care at home. A Private Memorial Service will be held at a later date.
Picture 9 from Jason
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We all grew up together in a small village in England called Linton in Cambridgeshire.
Raised by hard working,loving and caring parents.
Mum and Dad would always provide us with opportunities and Simon enjoyed many of them. Simon would take care of us when we came home from school and help us with our homework and chores. We enjoyed playing football together in the garden and going on our family vacations to Europe. Simon was in the cub scouts and later the boy scouts.
He took piano lessons and loved his music. Always listening to records.
We all sang in the village church St Marys choir. Simon would sing solos and had the voice of a choirboy. Simon once sang a solo in Kings College Chapel in Cambridge England.
He went to Colleridge school in Cambridge where he became Head Boy. (Head prefect).
With his love of music and his school friends as a teenager he would wear a long fur coat and high heel boots. Our dad would say ‘what will the neighbors think!’ It was the 70’s!!!
Simon went onto college and always did well achieving the equivalent of a college degree.
He had lots of friends at college including a member of one of his favorite bands Genesis.
Simon also had a love of cars and I remember helping him take them apart round the side of the house, a D type Jaguar and others. I would go and watch grass track racing with him on Sundays. He once made the local newspaper with an article about a Ford popular hot rod he was building in a garage in the village.
All our lives changed when Simon met an American girl while out for an evening with his friends. They dated and he decided to make the big decision to move to the United States of America in 1976. After many vacations to America our parents emigrated followed by myself Jason, our brother Adam and our sister Nina.
After starting with nothing Simon worked hard and became a licensed building contractor. Building many residential houses and commercial buildings following in the footsteps of our grandfather. Simon has two wonderful sons Joshua and Deven who did help in the family business.
Simon will be sadly missed by his two brothers Jason,Adam and his sister Nina.
Love you our brother Simon.
Bonnie and Dean Breedlove
at everything he did. We recommended him to a neighbor for building a deck on their home. They were very pleased and told us they have
received many compliments on that deck!
He was a good family man and especially devoted to his wife, Lauren. He had a child-like quality that we connected with. We would talk, tell stories and laugh together. Being with him would always lift our spirits.
What we loved most about Simon was that he had a light in him. Even when he was suffering with Cancer, he called and asked how we
were doing. I would like to quote Elisabeth Kubler Ross because this describes the essence of Simon Roper.
"People are like stained glass windows. They sparkle and shine when the sun is out, but when darkness sets in, their true beauty is
revealed only if there is a light from within." We will miss Simon all the days of our lives.
We enjoyed his wit, his humor, and his never-ending optimism.
He will be greatly missed. May his memory be eternal.
Kathleen Kehagias and Pat Evans