Raymond Larry Simmons, 84, of Litchfield, died on Sunday, Jan. 23, 2022, at 8:47 a.m. at Hillsboro Rehabilitation and Health Care Center in Hillsboro.
Visitation will be held from 4 to 7 p.m. on Thursday, Jan. 27, at the Plummer Funeral Home in Litchfield. Funeral services will be held on Friday, Jan. 28, at 11 a.m. at Zion Lutheran Church in Litchfield. The Rev. Fred Kraemer will officiate, and burial will be in Edgewood Cemetery.
Mr. Simmons was born July 15, 1937 in Litchfield, a son of Raymond and Lula Mae (Roberts) Simmons. He married Joyce Carleen Brakenhoff on June 6, 1965, at Zion Lutheran Church in Litchfield and she survives.
A graduate of Litchfield High School with the class of 1955, he graduated from Southern Illinois University at Carbondale in 1959 and later completed his master’s degree in education from Southern Illinois University at Edwardsville.
A veteran with the Illinois National Guard, Mr. Simmons was a longtime educator with the Panhandle School District. In his later years, he worked in the tool department of the Litchfield Rural King.
Mr. Simmons was a member of Zion Lutheran Church in Litchfield where he participated in the Lutheran Men’s League. He was an avid reader and enjoyed fishing. History was his passion and he participated in archaeological digs in Mexico.
In addition to his wife, he is survived by two sons, Raymond (Vicki) Simmons of Evansville, IN, and David (Jacqueline) Simmons of Haymarket, VA; one dauhter, Laura Simmons of Columbia; a sister, Roberta (Gene) Daniels of Cincinnati, OH; four grandchildren, Zachary Simmons, MaKenzie (Jeremy) Frazier, Emma Simmons and William Simmons and four great-grandchildren,Gunnar, Wyatt, Eli and Calla.
Mr. Simmons was preceded in death by his parents.
The family suggests memorials be made to Wounded Warriors Project or Concordia Seminary.
