Norman Simpson, supervisor

Norman E. Simpson, 80, of Tacony, a cemetery supervisor and an active supporter of Livengrin Foundation for Addiction Recovery, died of kidney failure Thursday at Aria Health-Frankford Campus.

In 1976, after his wife and children confronted him about his alcoholism, Mr. Simpson became a patient at Livengrin's inpatient program in Bensalem.

"He was a wonderful man, but he had a serious addiction. It was ruining his life," said his wife, Dorothy Alley Simpson.

Mr. Simpson and his wife were so grateful to Livengrin for his successful treatment and the counseling it offered their family that they became Livengrin volunteers, answering phones, working with families, and even parking cars, his wife said. "We did whatever needed to be done," she said.

Livengrin Foundation, a nonprofit organization, offers a residential treatment program and operates a network of counseling centers in Philadelphia, Bucks, and Lehigh Counties for patients with drug and alcohol addictions.

From 1980 to 1983, Mr. Simpson served on the Livengrin Advisory Council and then served on the board of directors until 1996. He was president of the Livengrin Alumni Association from 1980 to 1985.

Mr. Simpson attended Frankford High School. While working as a coin counter at the Federal Reserve Bank in Philadelphia, he took courses at night at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania.

In 1959, he went to work for Magnolia Cemetery in Northeast Philadelphia and became the cemetery's superintendent in 1979.

He was devoted to his grandchildren and loved spending time with his dogs, his wife said.

In addition to his wife of 61 years, Mr. Simpson is survived by daughters Linda Bader and Kathleen Kruger, sons Stephen and David, 14 grandchildren, and six great-grandchildren.

A funeral will be held at 11 a.m. today at Holy Innocents St. Paul's Episcopal Church, 7001 Torresdale Ave., Philadelphia.