Imilda (Buckingham) Simek

Imilda (Buckingham) Simek has reached the end of her life’s journey, passing away in her sleep just as she wished, in Hoffman Estates, IL.

Born in Baltimore, MD, to Harry F. and Hattie (Clark) Buckingham in 1920, she was the last survivor in her family of seven children.

Imilda showed a predisposition for the arts and, after graduating from high school, enrolled in the Maryland Institute, where she launched a prolific career as a sculptor and exceptional portrait and landscape painter – skills that she honed over the next 85 years.  She was also a member of the Baltimore Opera Company chorus and remained an ardent fan of opera for the rest of her years.

During a family reunion in Baltimore at the age of 11, she met Ervin J. Simek, 17, of Chicago, and the torch was lit.  Their friendship grew as dedicated correspondents over the next eight years, and they were married at the Mount Vernon Place Methodist Church in Baltimore on June 14, 1941.

With the onset of WWII, Ervin, a fire protection engineer, joined the U.S. Army Air Corps’ Intelligence service, inspecting defense plants throughout the south.  During his first assignment in Houston, TX, the couple’s first child, Barbara Joan, was born in January, 1943.  Their second, Matthew Ervin, followed in February, 1944, during their assignment to Kansas City, MO.

At the end of the war, Ervin and Imilda built their home in Barrington, IL, where three more children rounded out the family:  Jan William in 1948, Aimee Imilda in 1952, and Phillip Buckingham in 1962, who passed away in 1987.

Ervin and Imilda shared their first and only house for 61 years until 2009, when they moved to the Brookdale retirement community in Hoffman Estates, IL.  Ervin passed a month later at the age of 94, and Imilda continued in residence until her passing at 97 years of age.

Her memory will continue on through her many accomplishments, a lifetime’s accumulation of critically acclaimed artworks, and through her family and many friends.

Imilda Simek is survived by her daughter Barbara Simek Vesper, of Palatine, IL, a retired teacher of children with learning challenges; Matthew Simek, a retired television writer/producer and musician entertaining in Newberg, OR; Jan William Simek (Judy Lang), Emeritus Professor of Chemistry, California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo, CA; and Aimee Simek Skingle (Paul), who jointly operate a consulting firm in Bedford, TX.  Imilda was also the matriarch of four grandchildren and seven great grandchildren.

She will be interred with her husband Ervin’s ashes wrapped in her arms, at the Evergreen Cemetery in Barrington, IL.  A celebration of her life will be announced at a later date.

Ms. Simek requested that memorial donations be made to the scholarship fund of the Maryland Institute College of Art, 1300 W. Mount Royal Ave, Baltimore, MD 21217.