MOTM

FYI:
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PAiA Electronics, Inc.
3200 Teakwood Ln. 
Edmond, OK 73013 USA
www.paia.com <outbind://4/www.paia.com>

Founder and president of PAiA Electronics Dies at 62
In Memoriam: John Stayton Simonton, Jr.
June 24, 1943 ­ Nov. 25, 2005

Born in Honolulu, Hawaii to John and Eva Simonton, John Simonton grew up in
New Orleans, LA graduating from the Sam Barth School for Boys and the
Metairie Park Country Day School. In 1965 while finishing his electrical
engineering and psychology degree at Louisiana Tech University in Ruston, LA
he met and married Linda Brumfield Simonton.

After completing his degree in 1967, John moved to Oklahoma to work for the
first computerized jet engine test facility at Tinker A.F.B.

In 1968, John founded PAiA Electronics, Inc. in Oklahoma City, a company
dedicated to providing synthesizer kits to the do-it-yourself electronic
musician. John Simonton designed hundreds of products including the Gnome
MicroSynthesizer, the SMPL System SMPTE / MIDI / Machine synchronizer and
the PAiA Programmable Drum Set, which is credited with being the first
commercially available user-programmable percussion box.

Many music artists received their first exposure to synthesis with PAiA¹s
modular systems, and scores of engineers, scientists and technicians were
first exposed to their professions through his many trade journal articles.
His work with starved tube circuitry produced the TubeHead series of
preamplifiers and his most recent project was PAiA's Theremax theremin.

A widely read author and contributor in the electronic popular press, John
was also the publisher of Polyphony magazine, which was first published in
1975 and later renamed Electronic Musician. Electronic Musician eventually
sold to Mix Publications of Berkeley in 1985. John was also the founding
partner in High Technology, Inc. the first computer store in Oklahoma in
1976, which became the first wholesale distributor for Apple Computer, Inc.
in 1977. 

Deeply dedicated to doing what was right, John was a mentor and inspiration
to many do-it-yourselfers. He not only encouraged them to pursue avocations
and careers in engineering and music, but provided the tools that helped
them realize their dreams.

He is survived by wife Linda Simonton, daughter D. Stayton (Staci) Craig,
son John S. Simonton III (Trey), granddaughters Nikki Craig and Callie
Simonton, and grandson Christopher Kai Simonton.

A memorial service to celebrate John¹s life will be held at 6 p.m.,
Saturday, Dec. 10 at the Omniplex Science Museum, 2100 NE 52nd Street,
Oklahoma City. In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to the John S.
Simonton Memorial Fund at the Oklahoma City Community Foundation, PO Box
1146, Oklahoma City 73101.

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