John Simmons Obituary

Longtime Durango resident John Lewis Simmons died in Durango on Tuesday, Feb. 24, 2009. He was 90.

Mr. Simmons was born to William F. and Mattie Belle Lewis Simmons in Trenton, Tenn., on Sept. 13, 1918. He graduated from Peabody High School in Trenton in 1937.

In 1938, he came to Colorado with Rebecca Apple, the president of the YWCA, to bring about 16 girls to a summer camp near Cascade. After taking the girls back to Tennessee, Mr. Simmons returned to Colorado.

He worked for the Hotter brothers until school started at Fort Lewis College at the old Hesperus Campus. He attended school there in 1938 and 1939.

While at FLC, Mr. Simmons worked for his room and board, cleaning rooms at 4 a.m. After that, he worked in the mess hall until after breakfast. Later he worked in the dairy, but because he was from out of state, he was replaced by a local person.

To earn his room and board, Mr. Simmons went to work for Olga Little, the well-known mule-pack driver who took supplies to remote mining camps.

Later, Mr. Simmons' roommate told him to contact the Strater Hotel for work. He was hired and worked for J.A. Segerberg, who, along with Alice Bane, was a part owner of the hotel. Segerberg became a lifelong friend, and often traveled with the Simmonses.

After registering for the draft, Mr. Simmons served with the Army and was assigned to the 168 Field Artillery Headquarters Battery in February 1941. He served in the South Pacific at Dutch New Guinea, Luzon and the Philippines. Mr. Simmons was discharged at Fort Logan in November 1945.

On June 17, 1943, he married Helena May Hogler at Sacred Heart Cathedral in Gallup, N.M.

After returning from the service, Mr. Simmons worked for Henry Hotter at the Minneapolis Moline tractor dealership and then went to work for La Plata Electric Association. He worked for LPEA for 28 years as the supervisor of customer accounts until his retirement in 1981.

Mr. and Mrs. Simmons traveled and spent several winters in Arizona after his retirement.

Mr. Simmons was a member of the First United Methodist Church of Durango, the San Juan Quarter Horse Association and the Drum and Bugle Corps of Durango. He was also a lifetime member of the Benevolent & Protective Order of Elks Lodge No. 507.

Mr. Simmons enjoyed the outdoors, hunting and hiking. He especially enjoyed working with and riding horses. He taught horsemanship to a number of young people and raised quarter horses for several years. He also enjoyed spending time at the Simmonses' cabin and acreage in Long Hollow in southwestern La Plata County.

Mr. Simmons is survived by his wife of almost 66 years, Helena Simmons, of Durango; and two nephews and two nieces.

At his request, there will be no services at this time.