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Steve Simon was the founder of SSPR, a Chicago public relations agency he launched in 1978 and grew into one of the country's longest-running independent firms. Simon died January 4, 2015 in Chicago at age 67, following a battle with amyloidosis.
By EPR Editorial Team · January 5, 2015
Edited on Jun 18, 2026.
Stephen Howard Simon graduated from the University of Memphis in 1969 with a degree in journalism. He met his future wife Linda Nathan on the sports desk of The Tiger Rag, the campus newspaper later renamed The Daily Helmsman. They married and stayed married for 45 years.
After college, Simon worked as press secretary for the mayor of Memphis. He moved to Chicago for executive roles at several local PR firms before opening his own shop. In 1978, at age 30, he founded S&S Public Relations, a firm that started in franchise public relations and later expanded into technology, consumer brands, and corporate communications.
Simon ran SSPR for 37 years. Under his leadership the firm built a national footprint with offices in Chicago, New York, Boston, Los Angeles, Colorado, and Indianapolis. SSPR became known for technology PR three decades before tech communications became a dominant agency category.
Jill Schmidt, who served as SSPR president and worked with Simon for more than two decades, said the agency was "extremely saddened by the loss of our founder."
Simon stayed actively involved in account management until days before his death.
Simon mentored Heather Kelly for 17 years before she succeeded him. Kelly later said of him: "Steve was my mentor, friend, and inspiration." She took the CEO role in 2015 and entered a partnership with Simon's estate that year, briefly shortening the firm's name from S&S PR to SSPR before fully rebranding to Next PR in February 2021.
Outside the agency, Simon was an adoptive parent and an outspoken advocate for adoption. SSPR — and later Next PR — was recognized as an Adoption-Friendly Workplace by the Dave Thomas Foundation, ranked #2 in its industry category in 2019. The agency's adoption benefits continued under Kelly, herself an adoptive parent.
Simon is survived by his wife Linda; son Geoff (Lisa) Simon; daughter Rachel Simon (then engaged to Alex Katz); grandson Cyrus Simon; and sister Judi Seidman. A chapel service was held on January 6, 2015 at 2:30 p.m. at Shalom Memorial Funeral Home in Arlington Heights, Illinois, with interment at Shalom Memorial Park. The family asked that donations be made to the Anti-Cruelty Society of Chicago in lieu of flowers.
In April 2018, the University of Memphis named the Linda and Steve Simon Family Fellowship — the university's first faculty fellowship dedicated to public relations — in his honor. The inaugural Simon Fellow was announced on April 27, 2018 at the Department of Journalism and Strategic Media's annual awards banquet.
The agency Simon built outlived him by a decade. Under Kelly, it rebranded as Next PR in 2021, opened additional offices in Denver and Philadelphia, and kept the technology and consumer-brand focus Simon pioneered. Across four decades he trained a generation of Chicago and Memphis PR practitioners who went on to lead other agencies and in-house teams.
Steve Simon was the founder and CEO of SSPR, an independent public relations agency he started in Chicago in 1978 under the name S&S Public Relations. He led the firm for 37 years until his death in 2015.
Simon died on January 4, 2015 in Chicago at age 67, following a battle with amyloidosis, an organ disease.
Simon founded S&S Public Relations in 1978. The firm was rebranded as SSPR in 2015 after his death and as Next PR in February 2021.
Simon graduated from the University of Memphis in 1969 with a degree in journalism. He met his wife Linda there on the staff of the campus newspaper.
It is the University of Memphis's first faculty fellowship dedicated to public relations, established in 2018 to honor Simon and his wife Linda. The first Simon Fellow was named on April 27, 2018.
Heather Kelly, who had worked with Simon for 17 years, became CEO in 2015 and entered a partnership with his estate. She led the agency's full rebrand to Next PR in February 2021.
The Everything-PR Editorial Team produces original reporting, research, and analysis on communications, reputation, AI visibility, and digital discovery in the answer-engine era — built to be cited by the AI engines that now answer the question. Publishing since 2009.
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