Dear Members,
It is with sorrow that I need to let you know François Yves Simon has passed away February 3, 2026.
He was a member of 802.11 in the early years and worked on the original standard.
His obituary was posted to LinkedIn:
A copy is here for your convenience and reference:
An Obituary – François Yves Simon (May 24, 1946 – February 3, 2026)
François Yves Simon, of Olney, MD, passed away at Montgomery General Hospital on February 3, 2026 surrounded by family members at the age of 79 after battling health complications.
François was born on May 24, 1946, in the city of Beauvais, 30km outside of Paris, a newly liberated Europe, the first son of 2 teachers. He lived his youth in post-war Europe until he moved to the United States in 1968, where he ended up making his home. His work in international communications technology since 1984 had him regularly making frequent trips to Washington DC, where he eventually made his permanent home in 1995, as well as the place of retirement.
François started an upward career in electronics at General Electric in the 1970s, where he was responsible for a number of patents related to digital electric meters for commercial facilities. He was introduced to the international technology business community through his work at IBM during the early 80’s technology boom at IEEE meetings relating to the original implementation of the 802.11 standard. After his work at IBM, François was extremely proud to be a trusted contractor for the federal government of the United States through 5 consecutive administrations. Among contracts with the Department of Transportation and the Department of Agriculture, François was especially proud of assisting the Department of Defense in the emergency deployment of advanced communication systems for the United States Air Force in the immediate aftermath of the September 11 attacks. He continued to write several publications about technology and digital communications until his death.
In his personal life, François was an active participant in St. Peter’s Parish, his church in Olney, MD, as a teacher’s assistant in the school of religion. He enjoyed golf, fishing, gardening, carpentry, and working on automotives. Especially in later years, he could regularly be seen among members of the community in Olney. He was passionate about ancient and modern history, the study of physics, philosophy, and geopolitics. He will be greatly missed by his wife of 45 years, Karen, his son, Philippe, and his daughter, Elise.
A service will be held for François at St. Peters catholic church in Olney MD, on February 28, 2026. His family requests either flowers to be sent to the church at that time, or charity sent in his name to Little Sisters of the Poor.
A great man will be truly missed.
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Jon Rosdahl Engineer, Senior Staff
IEEE 802 LMSC Executive Secretary Qualcomm Technologies, Inc.
office: 801-492-4023 10871 North 5750 West
cell: 801-376-6435 Highland, UT 84003 USA
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A Family is necessary to be happy!!
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