In Memoriam: Lyn Heywood Simon ’56

Utica Community
Utica Stories
In Memoriam: Lyn Heywood Simon ’56

Lyn Simon, a woman with shoulder-length auburn hair, wearing a pink lapeled jacket, smiles at the camera.

August 28, 1934 - April 26, 2022

Lyn Heywood Simon ’56 was a role model, particularly for young women, says her friend Kim Landon ’75, emeritus professor of public relations and journalism.

“Lyn was an inspiring example of how a woman could manage her family and her career, and live life on her own terms,” says Landon.

After graduating from Utica University in 1956 with a bachelor’s degree in public relations, Simon went on to further her education at Northwestern University, where she earned a master’s degree in journalism.

She landed a job as a newspaper journalist at the Waterloo Daily Courier in Iowa. She followed that with a four-year stint with the United Press International’s radio news bureau, which was the first network to offer radio and television networks across the country.

Returning to Utica in 1961, Simon was named the women’s editor of the Observer-Dispatch. Later that same year, she married Raymond Simon, the legendary professor of public relations at Utica University.

Simon then returned to school. In 1976, she graduated from Syracuse University College of Law. According to a feature article in the Observer-Dispatch in the 1980s, Lyn successfully juggled three jobs: journalist, mother, and lawyer.

“We all knew her as Professor Simon’s wife, who would drop off their two little girls at his office on her way to classes at Syracuse University,” said Landon. “We all admired her.”

She entered private practice, where she was named the attorney to the Utica City School District Board of Education. Eventually she took a position at Oneida-Herkimer-Madison Board of Cooperative Educational Services (BOCES), where she stayed until her retirement. She also served on the board of directors for Faxton St. Luke’s Hospital.

Utica University’s Simon Convergence Media Center named its broadcast studio after her in 2007. In 2013, Simon was named Outstanding Public Relations/Journalism Alumna by the Raymond Simon Institute Board (RSI).

An avid reader and sports fan, Simon kept lists of every author and book she read, along with notes about the ones she especially liked or disliked.

Married to Raymond for 56 years, Simon is survived by two daughters: Melissa (Simon) Berczuk, and Brooke (Simon) Candelaria, who serves on the RSI Advisory Board, and a grandson, Daniel Berczuk.

By Joshua Ward ’24