City of Oaks Funeral Home & Cremation
Obituary
Rodney Lane Simpkins, Jr.
Clayton, North Carolina
Age 85.
Died 04/17/2025.
Rodney was an avid hunter and fisherman. He also was a “man of the land”. He spent many weekends scouring plowed fields and farmland for Indian artifacts (arrowheads and pottery.) He shared his love for these historic artifacts and tools with many groups like Boy Scouts and Indian Guides. His collection is noteworthy in its quality and quantity. Rodney liked to travel with his family and his friends. One of his favorite trips was a hunting Safari to Africa with several of his long-time friends. He was the photographer of this journey. He left behind many photographic memories.
Family property on the AIWW (Atlantic Intracoastal Waterway) in Hampstead ,NC was his “happy place”. After retirement, he spent many years fishing, crabbing, and shrimping on the waterway. He eventually made Hampstead his home. During his retired years he took on many local projects that benefited others. One he was most proud of was that he designed, permitted, and implemented jetties that have preserved the canal access from the waterway for his community. One of the many things he passed along to his children, grandchildren, and great grandchildren was “MR. D.O. P.A.” (Make Ready, DO, Put Away). He also stressed: have integrity; hard work . . . the harder you work, the luckier you get; be supportive (to spouse, coworkers, children); be an encourager; think more, speak less; avoid assumptions (trust then verify); be generous and willing to help others in need.
When his health began to decline, he moved from Hampstead to Clayton to be closer to family. He soon required in-home care. Ms. Ruby with MercyLand Home Health Care provided compassionate and loving care, as well as friendship to Rodney. In August 2024, Rodney decided to go into Hospice Care with 3HC Home Health. In Hospice, his health improved, and he had 8 more months with family and friends. His only kidney finally gave out. From that point forward, he had a brief, but rapid decline.
Rodney is survived by his wife of 64 years, Bettie June Barnes Simpkins; his son Rodney Lane Simpkins III and wife, Jill; his daughter June Berkeley Simpkins Bennett and husband, Cort; his son Scott Fitz-Gerald Simpkins and wife, Julie; grandchildren Michael Brandon Simpkins, Monica Lane Simpkins, Berkeley Nicole Bennett Cummins (Kevin), Grayson Olivia Bennett (fiancée Javier), Connor Redding Simpkins, Grant Emerson Simpkins (fiancée Maddy), Scott Franklin Simpkins; 2 step-grandchildren Ashley Bennett Walters (John), Cort John Bennett (Hannah); great grandchild Nicole Mae Cummins. He is also survived by his brother Phillip Simpkins and sister Carolyn Turner Smith.
A Celebration of Life will be held on June 14, 2025, from 1:00 – 3:00 at the Family Life Center at Temple Baptist Church, 1417 Clifton Street, Raleigh.
In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations in Rodney's memory to Tunnels to Towers (https://t2t.org) or to Marshgrass Restoration Project (https://www.nccoast.org/give/)
Arrangements by City of Oaks, Raleigh, NC (919) 438-1649 www.cityofoakscremation.com
For additional information or for service details, please reach out to the family directly.
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City of Oaks Cremation and Funeral Home is a full-service funeral home in Raleigh, serving all of North Carolina and beyond. We provide an alternative to costly funeral homes and every day we help families in Raleigh, Durham, Chapel Hill and all over North Carolina make simple, affordable funeral arrangements.
Simply having to reach out to a funeral home can feel overwhelming. Our goal is to simplify the entire funeral home experience and make the process as easy as possible. We hope to eliminate any unnecessary surprises by publishing our total cost and the services we provide directly on our website. All of our obituaries are provided free of charge as a way to help families celebrate and commemorate the lives of their loved ones.
Our Promise
Apples to Apples
Just like all other licensed funeral homes in North Carolina, City of Oaks Cremation, LLC is regulated by the NC Board of Funeral Service.
The same laws that apply to the big corporate funeral homes also apply to the modest independently owned firms like ours. All crematories in North Carolina, regardless of who owns them, are inspected annually by the state and must adhere to the same rules and laws.
Genuine Care
We're committed to providing families within our community unsurpassed service before, during and after the time of loss.
Our staff will provide clear communication to your family through each step as we move forward from the original phone call notifying us of a death to the time we deliver the urn back to your family. We will treat your family with the utmost respect, as we honor the wishes of your loved one.
We promise to make this process affordable and as endurable as possible.
State Wide
Our Funeral Home is located in Wake County NC; however, we provide our services to families throughout the entire State.
Unlike other funeral homes, we don't charge an additional mileage fee. Regardless of what county you live in, we can help your family with making simple, affordable funeral arrangements. From Asheville to Wilmington, we're proud to help families statewide.
Our Services
$1196.75
Nobody likes surprise costs added in at the last minute. We guarantee you will not find any hidden charges here. We include everything you need for a simple or direct cremation. Simple, affordable and reliable. We have not changed the cost of our direct cremation service since we opened City of Oaks in 2012.
$2875.66
We offer the option of choosing how you receive your loved ones remains. Selecting our Direct Cremation with Solidified Remains option is a beautiful way to transform cremated remains into 40-60 “stones” that you can hold.
$1917.84
City of Oaks Funeral Home and Cremation provides an affordable cremation option with onsite visitation. Nobody likes surprise costs added in at the last minute. We guarantee you will not find any hidden charges here. Simple, affordable and reliable.
$2497.50
An immediate burial has the same end result as a traditional burial; however, we have eliminated the extra (sometimes unnecessary) services prior to getting to the cemetery. Not everyone wants an open casket for viewing or a limousine for the family. Despite the term immediate, we can move as fast as you need or as slow as you like. This option simply allows you to save money by eliminating some of the fancy extras at the funeral home.
$6081.48
We offer the same traditional funeral services as the big corporately owned funeral homes in the area; however, we cost about half the amount. You might consider a traditional funeral service if your family is looking for an open casket visitation, a traditional church service or a funeral service in the funeral home's chapel. A traditional funeral service can be altered to fit the needs of your family.
$3033.75
This establishment is one of a select number of funeral homes who meet the criteria for providing green funeral service by the Green Burial Council; a tax-exempt, nonprofit organization working to encourage environmentally sustainability in the field of funeral service. Our Green options allow for a funeral to take place without the use of toxic and non-biodegradable materials/chemicals.
$2640.59
As an alternative to traditional cremation, City of Oaks Funeral Home also offers Aquamation. The Aquamation process, often referred to as alkaline hydrolysis, uses a solution of water and potassium hydroxide to facilitate natural decomposition.