SIMMONS, Jerry Richard 'J.R.' / 'Dick' 1927 - 2015

SIMMONS, ELMORE, WYCKOFF, LEHN, BEAUCHAMP

Posted By: Joey Stark
Date: 8/8/2015 at 11:36:28

"The Fairfield Ledger"
Wednesday, July 29, 2015
Page 6

J.R. 'Dick' SIMMONS

J.R. "Dick" SIMMONS, 88, of Fairfield, died Tuesday, July 28, 2015, at Mercy Hospital in Iowa City.

Mr. SIMMONS donated his body to medical science at University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics in Iowa City.

A celebration of life will be at 10 a.m. Saturday at Lake Darling State Park near Brighton, with the Rev. Frosty Van Voorst officiating. A gathering of family and friends will follow the service at the park.

Memorials can be made to the Antioch Cemetery Association or to the American Cancer Society and mailed to the family at 2394 145th St., Fairfield 52556. Online condolences can be made at www.raymondfuneralhomes.com.

Raymond Funeral Home in Fairfield is assisting with arrangements.

Jerry Richard SIMMONS was born Jan. 15, 1927, in Fairfield, the son of Fred and Edna ELMORE SIMMONS. He married Lorry WYCKOFF March 6, 1954, in Mattoon, Illinois.

He attended the Penn No. 10 one-room school through the sixth grade. He then attended Pleasant Plain Consolidated School and graduated from Pleasant Plain High School in 1944.

He served with the U.S. Army during World War II and was a member of the Iowa National Guard for more than 20 years. He attained the rank of first sergeant while serving in the Red Bull Division Medical Company.

Mr. SIMMONS worked for the U.S. Department of Agriculture Soil Conservation Service for 32 years. He farmed for 20 years, and he served as a Jefferson County supervisor for 20 years.

Mr. SIMMONS was a member of the American Legion. He also was an avid deer hunter and outdoorsman.

Survivors include: his wife Lorry; three sons: Tim SIMMONS of Fairfield; Perry SIMMONS and wife Phyllis of Ankeny, and Tom SIMMONS and wife Carolyn of Fairfield; one daughter, Dee LEHN and husband Ray of Fairfield; nine grandchildren; five great-grandchildren; and one brother, Stanley SIMMONS of Fairfield.

He was predeceased by: his parents; and one sister, Faye BEAUCHAMP.

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"The Fairfield Ledger"
Wednesday, July 29, 2015
Front Page

Former supervisor Dick SIMMONS dies
Served on board from 1983-2002 after 32 years at soil conservation office in Fairfield
By Andy Hallman
Ledger news editor

A longtime Jefferson County resident and pillar of the community, J.R. "Dick" SIMMONS, died Tuesday at the age of 88 at Mercy Hospital in Iowa City.

SIMMONS worked for the United States Department of Agriculture Soil Conservation office in Fairfield for 32 years, and served on the Jefferson County Board of Supervisors for two decades, from 1983-2002. During an interview he gave to The Ledger in 2002, SIMMONS said he believed he was the longest serving supervisor in the county's history.

Dick Reed replaced SIMMONS on the board after his retirement. Reed had gotten to know SIMMONS years earlier in 1983 when both men were in the Iowa Army National Guard.

"Dick SIMMONS was always a good, common-sense and polite gentleman," Reed said. "At his retirement party, a lot of supervisors from other counties attended. That showed me he was a well-respected man."

During one of their National Guard training sessions, Reed asked SIMMONS how he liked being a supervisor. SIMMONS said he liked it just fine.

"I told him, 'When you retire, I just might run for that job,'" Reed said. "At the time, it was just small talk."

Before Reed became a supervisor, he was a member of the Fairfield City Council. He and SIMMONS served on the Southeast Iowa Multi-County Solid Waste Agency board together, with SIMMONS representing the county and Reed representing the city.

"You never see eye to eye with everybody when you're a board member," Reed said. "He was a man who could debate his opinion, listen to other opinions and in the end come to an agreement."

Reed said SIMMONS left big shoes for him to fill. Reed filled SIMMONS' spot on boards such as the South Iowa Area Crime Commission Board, the South Iowa Area Detention Center Board and the aforementioned landfill board. He said some of those boards meet only four times per year, so it takes several years for a board member to truly understand the issues at stake, and SIMMONS certainly served long enough to know the issued inside and out.

"You can see he was concerned about the longterm in everything he did," Reed said. "When he did something, he committed to it."

Jefferson County Assessor Sheri Blough Neff worked alongside SIMMONS, too. Over his 20-year career in county government and through his work at the USDA, SIMMONS came to know the farmers very well.

"People felt free to visit with him if they had a concern," she said. "He knew lots of folks in the county, and that served him well."

Blough Neff said SIMMONS's knowledge of soil helped him in his role as a supervisor, too.

"He was well versed in using soils to determine the value of land," Blough Neff said. "He understood the terminology, and he was a great source of information for a lot of people."

Blough Neff said SIMMONS was very interested in conservation and forestry. Perhaps most important, she said he was "congenial and easy to work with."

Reed remarked that, even though he is a Republican and SIMMONS was a Democrat, the two had similar philosophies. Upon leaving office, SIMMONS said he was the only elected Democrat in the county during his tenure.

"I couldn't have stayed in the office without Republican support," he told The Ledger in 2002, "especially since there's a Republican majority in the county. I have many good Republican friends."

SIMMONS presided over the installation of most of the rural water service in the county. The majority of county residents relied on well water prior to SIMMONS's tenure. During his time with the county conservation district, he built numerous ponds and tile outlet terraces to help farmers control runoff and prevent erosion.

SIMMONS was a veteran of the Second World War and served in the Iowa National Guard for 20 years. He lived nearly all his life in the county, having been born in Fairfield on Jan. 15, 1927, and later attending Penn No. 10 one-room school through sixth grade. He graduated from Pleasant Plain High School in 1944.

A celebration of his life will be at 10 a.m. Saturday at Lake Darling State Park near Brighton. A gathering of family and friends will follow.

SIMMONS's complete obituary can be read on page 6.

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*Copied with permission from The Fairfield Ledger, Inc. This material may NOT be copied and re-posted in any public venue such as Ancestry or Find A Grave without permission from The Fairfield Ledger ~ copyright restrictions apply.
*Transcribed for genealogy purposes; I have no relation to the person(s) mentioned.

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