How Steve Jobs's biological mother doesn't know he is dead as care home nurses believe dementia sufferer is too ill to be told
By Paul Bentley
Last updated at 7:45 AM on 15th October 2011
His
death was one of the most widely publicised in recent history, filling
newspapers and television schedules for days as fans worldwide united in
grief. Among
the few people in the Western world, however, who will not have heard
of Steve Jobs's passing, is perhaps the most important - his own mother.
Joanne
Simpson, who reluctantly gave her son up for adoption after falling
pregnant when she was a student, is seriously unwell in a nursing home
in Los Angeles and has no idea her son has died, MailOnline can reveal.
Biological parents: Father John Jandali never met Jobs while it is thought mother Joanne Simpson does not know he has died
Sources
close to the family said the Apple founder's biological mother, Joanne
Simpson, 79, is tragically battling advanced dementia. She has very limited mental capacity and is said barely to know who she is, let alone what has become of the son she gave away. Jobs
was adopted in 1955 after being born to Abdulfattah John Jandali, a
Syrian man, and Joanne Schieble, who was a graduate student at the time.
The couple were not married and keeping him would have been deemed shameful by their communities. Brought
up by Paul and Clara Jobs, Steve is thought to have reconciled with his
mother but never to have made contact with his biological father.
Genius: The Apple founder completely revolutionised the way we communicate
In
his renowned 2005 commencement address at Stanford University, Jobs
described how his mother signed the adoption papers reluctantly, wanting
to give him away to a well-educated couple.
Paul Jobs was a high-school drop-out who became a machinist and his wife Clara never graduated from college. Joanne
Simpson eventually married Jandali and the couple had another child,
Mona Simpson, who went on to become a famous novelist, before getting
divorced. She later remarried.
'My biological mother was a young, unwed college graduate student,' Jobs said in his speech.
Deteriorating:
The Berkley East Convalescent Hospital in Los Angeles, where Steve
Jobs's birth mother, who has dementia, is being looked after
'She felt very strongly that I should be adopted by college graduates.' When he grew up, Jobs found his mother and the two kept in touch. He also forged a relationship with his biological sister. Despite the reconciliation, Simpson's dementia is so serious she has no idea about her son's death. Her
condition has so far deteriorated she is said briefly to have been
admitted to a mental hospital after neighbours reported seeing her wandering the streets half naked.
Frail: Jobs was photographed in August looking very unwell
A
source said: 'Steve was one of the richest men in the world, but his
wealth couldn’t save him and it couldn’t save his mother. 'We
used to find her wondering the streets wearing only a house coat with
nothing underneath and sometimes we would find her wearing barely
anything climbing trees in her bare feet.
'In
the end someone dropped her at a mental hospital as they were so
concerned for her wellbeing and then when her daughter found out they
eventually moved her to a nursing home. 'She
was a lovely woman so it was very hard to see her demise. Now she is
locked in her own body and barely knows who she is let alone Steve
anymore.' Jobs knew about his birth mother's mental condition and is said secretly to have helped her financially.
'They
had reconnected in later life and it must have been so sad for Steve
watching his mum lose her mind , knowing there was nothing he could do
about it,' the source added. 'It was like a double heartache as there was nothing he could do about his condition either in the end. 'While
we never saw him round her house before they moved her, what we do know
is that her rent was paid for as if by magic every month.
'And now she is in one of the best care homes, so it doesn’t take a fool to work out who is paying for it.'
