In Memoriam: John Stayton Simonton, Jr.
2005-11-30 by Marvin Jones
Apologies for the massive cross-post, but want to make sure all John's fans get the news. Following is the official family press release. In Memoriam: John Stayton Simonton, Jr. June 24, 1943 – Nov. 25, 2005 Oklahoma City – Founder and president of PAiA Electronics, Inc. (OKC) John Stayton Simonton, Jr. died at his home in Arcadia, Okla. on Friday, Nov. 25 after a yearlong battle with esophageal cancer. He was 62 years old. 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 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 has 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 PAiA’s modular systems. Many engineers, scientists and technicians had early exposure to their professions through his 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 encouraging them to pursue avocations and careers in engineering and music. 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 John’s life will be held at 6 p.m., Saturday, Dec. 10 at the Omniplex Science Museum in 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.