Billy Joe Simons
Billy Joe Simons, a renowned cattle auctioneer, a jokester, and often a man of few words. Billy Joe was born Sept. 23, 1932, in Robinson and passed peacefully on Aug. 25, 2015. Even though he tended not to be very talkative, there was a side of him that would come alive and become quite chatty if talking about livestock, particularly cattle or horses or the latest cattle prices. He had an infinite love for auctioneering. It didn’t take much encouragement to get him to start rattling off the sing song chant in his distinct and clear voice even if he was not in the auction sale arena. Billy Joe was the youngest of eight children born to Christopher “Chris” and Hattie (Moore) Simons. Chris Simons was a cattle buyer and Billy, as a very young boy, tagged along with his daddy to the auction sales. The two of them were almost inseparable. The auctioneers caught Billy’s attention early on and he was determined to imitate them. He was a self taught auctioneer; teaching himself by constantly going about the home imitating the sing song chant. At the age of 12, he received his first assignment at the Brownwood Auction Sale in Brownwood. The auctioneer, Sherman Roberts, who at the time was a friend of both Billy and his father, asked Billy to relieve him for a short time at the microphone. Mr. Roberts was impressed with his twelve year old friend’s ability to enunciate clearly and rapidly, and his keen eye overlooked none of the bids among the buyers. It takes a real knack to be a great auctioneer and he explained that an auctioneer must be able to speak very clearly and rapidly into the microphone, and he must be able to distinguish the bids when they are given by the buyers such as one cattleman may raise his finger to indicate his bid, another may raise the bid by winking his eye or raising his knee. Each buyer has his own individual way of making bids; therefore, the auctioneer must keep a keen eye on the buyers to observe these signals. Billy honed his auctioneering skills over the next year and was declared the you ngest auctioneer in the United States by the “We the People” radio program. In 1945, he did the “We the People” radio program from the Sealy Auction barn. It was on a Sunday night. The ring was filled to capacity with a huge overflow to the outside. Billy sold for about three minutes and sold approximately fifteen steers. His father and mother sat in the audience and proudly looked on as their youngest son auctioneered. After the program, the “We the People” representative asked Billy if he wanted a pair of cowboy boots, a hat, saddle or even a horse for pay. He looked at his daddy and told him to tell them that he already had those things. His daddy replied….“you tell em.” So Billy told the man “no I don’t want that…..my daddy already got me those things.” The man left and returned with an envelope. Inside the envelope was a brand spanking new $1000. When Billy opened it, he turned to his momma and daddy and said “lookie here”… “a $1000”…“I think that is a $1000”? His daddy confirmed it was in fact a $1000! A couple years later, at the age of 14, Billy was the relief auctioneer at the Sealy Auction Sale in Sealy each Wednesday and at the Lexington Sale in Lexington on Saturday. During this time, the Sealy auction sale was one of the largest of its kind in Texas. On an average day, between 1500 and 2000 head of cattle go under the hammer but the record high was 2800. The rest is history and Billy Joe became so well known, particularly in the state of Texas, for his legendary style of auctioneering. He truly left his mark in the arena! His auctioneering legacy will live on in the memory of cattlemen, buyers and auctioneers who knew him and those that he mentored. He is survived by his daughters, Jan Mares (Steve); Chrissy Meyerson (Sandy); Charlotte Simons; Deondra Moore; one son, Seth Simons and son-in-law, Ricky Kainer. Grandchildren are Tod Mares, Ryan Haas, Tiffany Ott, Scarlett Peccon, Ronald Zouzalik, Brittany Daniel, Demi Moore, Layton Carroll, and Celeste Carroll and great grandchildren are Kyle, Cash and Caden Mares, Gavin Haas, Weston Osborne, Kinleigh Peccon, Gabe Angelus-Zouzalik, Ty Daniel, Bryleigh and Draven Bujnoch, and Brianna and Shawe Simons. He was preceded in death by his wife, Margie Noey Simons whom he married on Feb. 23, 1952, and remained married until her passing on March 10, 1999, and daughters, Terry Kainer and Tracy Simons and grandson, Trey Bujnoch. Billy was an avid fan of all collegiate and professional sports but especially his “Texas” teams. Speaking of his favorite “Texas” teams, we kidded him about switching between his Aggie and Longhorn caps depending on what doctor he would see that day or what family member he was hanging with. He truly enjoyed a good game of dominoes or cards. He volunteered countless hours to the 4H and FFA Stock Show sales as well as Flatonia and surrounding area church picnic auctions. During his latter years (key word “latter”) he enjoyed a cold Dr. Pepper and his daily late night snack was a pint of Blue Bell Homemade Vanilla Ice Cream. Even though he will forever be remembered as a great cattle auctioneer; he will more importantly be remembered as dad, grandfather and great grandfather. Throughout his life he truly enjoyed spending time with family and his circles of close friends but during the latter years his pride and joy were all of his grand and greatgrandchildren. During his senior years, they brought him immense joy, laughter and were genuinely the “bright” spots in his life. Pallbearers were grandsons Tod Mares, Ronald Zouzalik, Ryan Haas and grandson-inlaws LeeRoy Ott, Michael Peccon and Craig Daniel. In lieu of customary remembrances, contributions may be given to the Flatonia 4H and FFA Show Fund, C/O Clint Kainer 1334 E. US Hwy. 90, Flatonia, Texas 78941, Flatonia Baptist Church, P.O. Box 305, Flatonia, Texas 78941 or the E.A. Armin Archives & Museum, 101 E. North Main, Flatonia, Texas 78941.
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