Melvin Wayne "Champ" Simpson, Jr., age 66, died December 24, 2006 at Colorado Springs, Colorado. He was born May 11, 1940 at Monegaw Springs, Missouri, the son of Melvin Clay and Frances Elizabeth Jackson Simpson Sr. He was a truck driver for R & S Transportation. Mr. Simpson was a lifetime resident of Great Bend coming from Missouri as a small child. He was a member of Grace Community Church and founder and director of Chapelaires Gospel Singing Group, both of Great Bend. Survivors are a companion, Cindy Huddleston, Larned, Kansas; parents, Mr. and Mrs. Melvin Simpson, Sr., Great Bend, Kansas; five sons, Harold Wayne Simpson, Hutchinson, Kansas, Michael Clay Simpson, Colorado Springs, Colorado, Jason Scott Simpson, Ellinwood, Kansas, Brian Simpson, Springfield, Missouri, and David Simpson, Olathe, Kansas; one daughter, Debra Louise Simpson Ford, Hutchinson, Kansas; one brother, Kenny Wayne Simpson, Fayetteville, Arkansas; three sisters, Ruby Feil, Great Bend, Kansas, Barbara Espinosa, Great Bend, Kansas, and Doris Case, Sacramento, California; nine grandchildren; and nine great-grandchildren. He was preceded in death by a sister, Nelta Jones. Funeral services will be held Saturday, December 30, 2006 at 1:30 p.m. at Bryant Funeral Home. The Reverend J. P. McCamey will officiate. Burial will be in Hillcrest Memorial Park, Great Bend, Kansas. Friends may call Saturday, December 30, 2006 from 9:00 a.m. until service time at Bryant Funeral Home. A memorial fund has been established in Mr. Simpson's name to the Cindy Huddleston Medical Expense Fund, in care of the funeral home.