Christopher Eric Simpkins (1974-2025)

We are deeply saddened to share that Christopher Eric Simpkins, 51, of Hanover, NH, died suddenly on June 20, 2025.

Chris grew up in Gainesville, Florida, where he graduated from Gainesville High School and spent many years playing American Legion baseball. He went on to attend the University of Florida, proudly representing the Gators as a member of the baseball team.

Chris was a man of many talents and deep passions, with a career that spanned both medicine and technology.

Before transitioning to tech, Chris was a kidney transplant surgeon at Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center. He earned his medical degree from the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, where he also completed his residency and fellowship. During this time, he earned a Master of Public Health at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.

Chris was a skilled and dedicated transplant surgeon whose work saved many lives. His gentle bedside manner and concern for his patients and colleagues earned him respect and admiration throughout his career. Chris was honored with numerous teaching awards and affectionately known by colleagues and patients as the "Gentle Giant" for his calm, kind demeanor.

In recent years, he served as a Senior User Experience Program Manager at Google, with a special interest in font development. Chris initiated and guided the creation of Google Sans Code, a new brand font designed specifically for reading and writing code, and he program-managed the design and development of other Google font families that were recognized with both internal and international design awards. Throughout his time at Google, Chris led a broad network of vendors and partnered with teams across the company to integrate these fonts to major Google platforms.

Above all, Chris would say his greatest joy was being a husband and a father to his three children—Bryn (19), Dylan (18), and Jackson (14). He loved to watch them play sports, take them to concerts and always enjoyed a Starbucks-run with them.

Chris is survived by his wife Beth of 28 years; his three children; his parents Janet and James Simpkins; and his sisters Gretchen (Beau) Kostedt and Lexi (Klent) Matz.

Chris will be remembered by many for his numerous sports, academic and career achievements, but his greatest accomplishment was how much he loved his family. We couldn't have asked for a better husband, parent, son, and sibling, and we will miss Chris every day. Chris' memory will live on in the hearts of all those who love him.

No public service will be held at this time.

Those wishing to do so may make memorial donations to a charity of their choice or to one of the following organizations that were important to Chris.  Even more appreciated by the family are messages of support or shared memories of Chris. An online guestbook is available at: https://www.rand-wilson.com/

Doctors Without Borders
https://www.doctorswithoutborders.org/

United Network for Organ Sharing (UNOS)
https://unos.org/give/#GiveForm

Unicode Consortium
https://home.unicode.org/donation-page/