Mrs. Simon had undergone surgery for a malignant brain tumor in September.

She served as an assistant states' attorney in Cook County and was one of the few women in the Illinois legislature when she met Paul, then also an Illinois lawmaker.

In recent years, she chaired the National Commission on Libraries and Information Science and was an adjunct professor at Southern Illinois University.  She also was instrumental in Paul's work founding the Public Policy Institute at SIU.

The Simon family has chosen to memorialize her with a library fund at SIU. Contributions to the "Jeanne Hurley Simon Library Fund" should be sent to Morris Library, Southern Illinois University, Carbondale, IL 62901-6632.