VICTOR WILLIAM SIMONS

Branch of Service: Navy

Rank: Lieutenant

Service years: 1942- 1945

Glen Rock: Pastor to the Community Church of Glen Rock, lived in Glen Rock

​

Victor Simons was born in Newark, New Jersey in 1903. He attended Rutgers University studying to become a theologian and graduated in 1918.  His fellow schoolmates knew he was headed to the pulpit and noted his oratory prowess in his 1918 Rutgers yearbook, the Scarlet Leger. Simons had several different ministries before he and his wife Martha moved to Hamilton Ave to lead the Community Church of Glen Rock in 1931.  Reverand Simons performed funerals, weddings, and baptisms, supported his congregation, and participated in many civic activities all around Glen Rock for over a decade. 

​

When World War II broke out, Simons volunteered for the United States Navy in 1942 and was sent off to training. Once he completed boot camp he was assigned to the USS Warren; Captain William McHale of Glen Rock was in charge of the APA transport ship.  The job of this type of boat was to deliver men and munitions to beaches during amphibious landings. Chaplin Simons was involved in many actions in the South Pacific. One of the most  At home on leave in 1945, Lieutenant Simons was killed in a train accident. 

​

Born: 1903 Newark, New Jersey

Died: 1945 Glen Rock, New Jersey