Eric David Simandl “Eric Scott”
LAS VEGAS, NV- We bid farewell to Eric David Simandl – a scholar of many subjects, a legendary wit, a persistent and fairly good golfer, a journeyman of several careers, the onetime Voice of Radio Bingo, a rock-solid reliable late-night phone call for friends and family (whether in distress or for an adventure), a Mensa member, a Grill Rat and forever Spartan, the Lizard King, owner of an impressive collection of classic vinyl records, and a cheerful enjoyer of many fine brews and vintages in both good and questionable company. Eric passed away suddenly on January 16, 2026.
He took many sunset photos at Middle Island Point. He shoveled a lot of snow. He knew more Microsoft Excel formulae than most and could quote craps odds off the top of his head. He was a master wordsmith, and probably the first adult you knew with an email address in the early 90s. And he was better loved than he probably realized.
Born January 4, 1948 in Lansing, Michigan to David and Alice (Curry) Simandl, he grew up in Caro, Michigan, where he played two seasons of varsity football as a 135-pound center while working part-time for his grandpa Hamp Curry’s Oldsmobile dealership prior to graduation.
From there, he enrolled at Michigan State University, where he met his future wife Andrea Roslund from Alma, Michigan at a football game, along with meeting a core group of lifetime friends known as the Mason-Abbot Grill Rats. College suited Eric. He completed most of an advertising degree, held a wide variety of part-time jobs including postal carrier and hotel front desk clerk, married Andy in March 1969, and began his advertising career by writing ad copy for the Lansing State Journal. Andy and Eric then moved to suburban Detroit in 1970, where Eric worked for a Detroit-area advertising firm. (One headline he crafted for a newspaper ad for AAA Michigan recapping the group’s accomplishments read: “We invented the stop sign and kept right on going.” Snappy.)
Eric and Andy moved to Marquette in 1973 and spent the next 23 years as transplanted Yoopers. Eric worked in real estate and began a radio career, working at both WUPY and WDMJ under the air name of Eric Scott for over a decade, best known as The Voice of Radio Bingo and for hosting lively and wide-ranging talk radio shifts. Daughter Jill was born in 1975, and the young family took up residence at Middle Island Point in 1979. Eric later joined Bresnan Communications (now Charter Communications), eventually leading their local marketing strategy. Eric was a founding board member of NMU’s student station Radio X, he served on the Marquette Township Economic Development Board, and he and Andy co-founded Great Northern Title & Abstract with close friends Guy and Dawn McGladdery.
In 1996, Eric and Andy relocated to Las Vegas, where Eric joined Credit One Bank as a quantitative risk analyst. He spent the rest of his career there, including the past several years as a part-time analyst and consultant until his passing. He and Andy welcomed many family and friends who passed through town during their years in Las Vegas and enjoyed travels with their daughter Jill and grandsons Colin and Hayes around Virginia and to the UP, London, San Francisco, Atlanta, and Charlotte.
He will be greatly missed by his wife Andy, daughter Jill, grandsons Colin and Hayes Douthit, brothers Kurt (Susan Hornbogen) and Tim, sister Ann (Doug Baier), sisters-in-law Cheryl Abrams and Melody Roslund, brother-in-law Lynn Roslund (Elaine), and a host of extended family and friends.
Per his request, no ceremony is planned, but donations may be made to the American Heart Association.