Mass for Chicago native John Duncan Simpson, 52, a former White House official, Army lieutenant colonel and businessman, will be said at 1 p.m. Friday in the Catholic Chapel of the Most Holy Trinity at the United States Military Academy in West Point, N.Y.
Burial will be with military honors and interment will be in the Post Cemetery at West Point.
Mr. Simpson, a native of the South Side, died Monday of cancer at Hoag Hospital in Newport Beach, Calif. He lived in Laguna Hills, Calif.
Mr. Simpson worked for the Nixon administration on its national security staff in the early 1970s and was chairman of President Nixon`s Oil Policy Committee. He also was an assistant to the White House director of the Office of Emergency Preparedness.
Mr. Simpson resigned from the Army in 1971 after completing his White House duties. At the time of his death, he was president of Fluor Daniel Venture Group, Irvine, Calif.
During his career, Mr. Simpson served as a deputy commissioner of New York City`s Environmental Protection Administration under Mayor John Lindsay. In August 1979, Mr. Simpson became executive director of New York state`s transit agency, taking over the nation`s largest public transportation system at a time when efforts to overhaul it were beginning.
In January, 1981, he was named president of New York City Transit Authority. In that post he oversaw the city`s subways and buses and helped develop a five-year plan to revitalize subway, bus and commuter rail lines.
As executive director of the Denver Regional Transportation District, Mr. Simpson successfully built a bus system.
Mr. Simpson graduated from St. Ignatius High School in 1954 and enlisted in the Marines where he served for a year.
He was accepted at West Point and graduated from the military academy in 1959. He later attended Princeton University and received master`s degrees in engineering and public affairs.
As a U.S. Army officer, Mr. Simpson earned medals for valor and achievement in Korea, West Germany, Vietnam, and the U.S.
Survivors include his mother, Josephine Gleeson Simpson; his wife, Ellie; a daughter, Heather; a son, Sean; and a sister.
