Simpson was born Elva Violet Tait in Dunedin on 6 November 1936.[1][2][3] In 1958, she married pharmacist Gordon Bingham Simpson, and the couple had four children, including a daughter, Sally, who married golfer Mahal Pearce.[3][4][5]
Netball career
Simpson played representative netball for Otago as a defender from at least 1953.[6] and in 1954 she was named as an emergency in the South Island team for the inter-island match at the conclusion of the New Zealand national netball championships.[7] At the 1961 national championships, Simpson was selected as goal keeper and captain of the South Island team, which defeated the North Island 50–31.[8][9]
Simpson was a member of the New Zealand team at the inaugural World Netball Championships at Eastbourne, England, in 1963, making her debut in the first-round match against Northern Ireland.[10] With two young children at the time, she was one of only two mothers playing in the tournament.[11][12] New Zealand recorded nine wins and one loss, 36–37 against Australia, to finish as runners-up.[13] Simpson played in five of New Zealand's matches at the tournament.[10]
Later life
Simpson was a member of a team consisting of players from Otago and Southland at the Golden Oldies World Netball Festivals in 1984 in Auckland, and 1988 in Brisbane.[14]
At the 2008 New Zealand Masters Games in Dunedin, Simpson won the 500 metres, 1000 metres, and 2000 metres indoor rowing events in the women's 70–74 category.[16] She died in Dunedin on 30 November 2009, and her ashes were buried in Dunedin Southern Cemetery.[1][17]
