U.S. Air Force Col. Thomas Simonet lived a life of service — globally, nationally and locally.
During his 36-year tenure in the Air Force, Air National Guard and Air Force Reserves, Simonet served in Korea, England, Germany and Turkey.
As the state’s emergency-preparedness liaison officer for the Air Force, Simonet spent a decade supporting Homeland Security efforts during major natural disasters and events including the Interstate 35W bridge collapse, Hurricane Katrina, the 2008 Republican National Convention, and the flooding of the Red River.
Simonet, of Stillwater, also helped out close to home, serving on the boards of the Washington County Historical Society, the Minnesota Air National Guard Historical Foundation, Knights of Columbus Council 1632 and the Stillwater Veterans Memorial.
Simonet died May 29 of complications related to pancreatic cancer, at his home in the Croixwood neighborhood — the home where he grew up. He was 70.
Simonet, who served as treasurer of the Washington County Historical Society, was instrumental in the society’s efforts to create the Washington County Heritage Center, which opened in 2021, said Ryan Collins, who serves as the society’s vice president.
Simonet “did a lot of the behind-the-scenes work to get Heritage Center ready to go,” said Collins, who also serves on the Stillwater City Council. “There’s no doubt in my mind that without Tom, it would not have happened.”
Simonet, who spent 34 years with Norwest/Wells Fargo before retiring in 2017 as a vice president for Institutional Retirement Trust Services, had a “unique ability to negotiate without negotiating,” said Brent Peterson, the society’s executive director.
“He was a guy who could steer a conversation in the right direction that would make everything good for everyone,” Peterson said. “If it wasn’t for Tom’s financial leadership, the Washington County Heritage Center would not exist. The citizens of Washington County owe him a lot because of that. He truly was one of the finest people I’ve ever known.”
Joined rather than be drafted
Simonet was born and raised in Stillwater and graduated in 1972 from Stillwater High School, where he competed on the school’s ski, cross-country and track teams. That same year, he enlisted in the U.S. Air Force, following in the footsteps of his older brother Jack, who was a mechanic on C-124 Globemaster.
Jack “travelled the world,” Tom Simonet wrote in a self-published memoir. “I received letters from Jack telling me of his adventures from Southeast Asia to Europe. He was stationed at Hickam Air Force Base in Hawaii. To me, Hawaii was a distant and exotic land. … The draft was still in effect, and I wanted to go my direction and not have the government decide for me. I saw it as a good avenue to learn about myself and to learn a trade.”
After being released from active service in 1976, he served in the Minnesota Air National Guard, 133rd Airlift Wing, in St. Paul, where he served as an aircraft mechanic and advanced in rank and positions of Flight Squadron, Wing Inspector General, and Group Commander with the Minnesota Air National Guard until 2004.
In 1977, he married Susan Duden; she died in 2018. The couple had two daughters. In 2022, he married Sharon McNamara.
Simonet received a bachelor’s degree in business from Metropolitan State University in 1983. He later received a master’s degree in business administration from American Military University in 2014.
I-35W bridge collapse
Simonet finished his military career in 2014 as the state’s emergency-preparedness liaison officer, coordinating with local and state emergency managers, the Federal Emergency Management Agency and the Department of Defense to aid local communities when their resources become overwhelmed.
One of his proudest accomplishments was helping coordinate the dive crews searching for victims after the I-35W bridge collapsed into the Mississippi River on Aug. 1, 2007, said Lisa Sjogren, his oldest daughter.
A few hours before the collapse, Simonet found himself stopped in traffic on the bridge as he drove from Roseville to meet former work colleagues in Minneapolis.
“Traffic was limited to a single lane as major construction occurred on the bridge deck,” he wrote in his memoir. “I remember stopping in the southbound traffic lane, waiting to move forward. I felt the car bouncing as the northbound traffic was moving. I was relieved to get off that bridge.”
Simonet and Sjogren were at Simonet’s brother’s house in St. Paul when they got the news.
“His phone just went insane,” said Sjogren, of Elk River. “He literally set up a command where we were. He was calling saying, ‘I need divers, I need this, I need these people. Do we have medical support? Where are we sending them to? We have trauma, right? What can we provide?’ All this stuff that an emergency comes with.”
Simonet helped coordinate the National Guard and Reserve flying units “to offload the divers’ equipment and transport it to a staging area near the fallen bridge,” he wrote. “The Hennepin County Sheriff requested a group of specialized U.S. Navy divers. He had told the Secretary of Transportation that his divers were going into areas beyond their capabilities, and a group of professional deep water divers was needed to continue the search. They were still looking for the missing 13 victims.
“As I look back on that day, I always think of the school bus full of children that ended up just behind the semi-trailer where the driver lost his life,” he wrote. “When the bridge collapsed, the school bus dropped. Once it was safe, all the children climbed over the guardrail. … They ended up during this disaster at the perfect spot. I am thankful they were not one second further in their travels. In my firm belief, the mighty hand of God helped on that terrible day.”
Simonet received the Legion of Merit, the Bronze Star and Meritorious Service Medal, among many other commendations. In 2024, he was recognized for his service and contributions by the Minnesota Air National Guard at the Flight of Honor Ceremony honoring those who have “demonstrated outstanding professional achievement, service and heroism and have left a lasting impact on the organization.”
March 25, 2025, was declared “Tom Simonet Day” in Stillwater in recognition of his “lifetime of community service.”
St. Croix Base Ball Club
One of Simonet’s great joys was serving as the umpire for the St. Croix Base Ball Club, which plays by 1860 rules, Sjogren said. The 19th-century rules include: no wearing of gloves; no balls or strikes called by the umpire; foul balls are not considered strikes; and base runners can be tagged out if they overrun first base.
As umpire, it was Simonet’s job to start each inning by calling “Striker to the line!” to bid the striker (batter) to the line – a line drawn through the center of home plate.
“He loved saying ‘Striker to the line,’ even when he got sick,” Sjogren said. “When he couldn’t be out at the baseball games, I took the phone and stuck the phone by the players, and then my dad just yelled into the phone, ‘Striker to the line!’”
Simonet also loved playing cribbage, boating on the St. Croix River and outsmarting claw machines.
“He was the master of the claw machine that you would see at places like Perkins restaurants,” said Sarah Sederstrom, his youngest daughter. “He had master-level precision, and he always won. Any time he did win, he’d give the prize to a kid nearby.”
“I am convinced he was a surgeon in a previous life because of his precision with those things,” Sjogren said.
In addition to his wife and daughters, Simonet is survived by two grandsons, a stepdaughter and two step-grandchildren.
A Mass of Christian burial will be held at 11 a.m. Monday at St. Mary’s Catholic Church in Stillwater, with visitation from 4 to 8 p.m. Sunday at Simonet Funeral Home in Stillwater.
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