Donald Dewitt Simmons' Obituary
Our beloved Donald D. Simmons died peacefully in his sleep in Dallas, Texas on March 2, 2023. He was 93 years old. Donald was born in Covington, Alabama on September 11, 1929, to William Erza Simmons and Maggie Bell Shehan. He attended Laurel Hill High School in Laurel Hill, Florida where he played varsity basketball. Most, if not all, of his brothers served in one of the military branches during World War II, Korea and Vietnam. He was raised a Baptist but later converted to Catholicism.
He enlisted in the Army Air Corps on September 17, 1946, at the age of 17 (which later split into the US Army and US Air Force. He choose the US Air Force. On August 31, 1949, he married the love of his life, Katherine Clara Tesnareski, at St. Mary’s Church in San Antonio, Texas. They were married for 73 years.
Donald trained at Kessler Air Force base in Biloxi, Mississippi. He would go on to serve 21 years in the US Air Force. He was a Korean War veteran. He was stationed at Lackland AFB (In 1955, he attended Officers Candidate School (OCS) there and became an officer), Texas, Korea, and Northern Japan. He went on to be stationed at Keesler AFB, Mississippi, Griffin AFB, New York, Guam, Clark AFB, Philippines, Mariana Islands, Okinawa, Japan, Warner Robbins AFB, Georgia and finally Wiesbaden, Germany. He was proud to serve his country and valued the opportunity to be involved in many sensitive and classified missions for the U. S. Government. While in the service, he attended undergraduate school at the University of Maryland. He retired in 1967. He went on to work for Rockwell International and Boeing for over 20 years. He was a great role model demonstrating a legacy of strong work ethic and integrity. He had a strong sense of compassion, which he instilled in his children. His children have shared that with their children cementing a legacy of empathy.
Donald loved his siblings (12), their children and grandchildren; family was of utmost importance to him. Constant trips to Florida and Alabama were always a regular annual event. Additionally, he loved his own children and grandchildren. This was demonstrated by an annual family reunion in New Braunfels, Texas. The reunions went on for more than 45 years. He also had the most incredible sense of humor. This was evident with constant letters and emails with jokes and stories that would just make you laugh aloud. We all looked forward to those stories all the time. He passed on this gift of humor to all his children.
Donald took great care of his family and stayed in touch with his extended family. Aunts, uncles, cousins, nieces, and nephews would get a call from to say hello. He was not shy about speaking up when he saw any kind of injustice. From writing the mayor, the CEO of AT&T, or the President, he would let them know about it. Moreover, most often, he would get a response because of his excellent communication skills.
Donald loved to travel and take road trips, including annual trips to Colorado. He took his family to many places including East Berlin, Italy, and Switzerland while stationed in Germany. He was an avid Dallas Cowboy fan and had season tickets since the late sixties. Donald loved square dancing and walking. He wrote the newsletter for the Texas Reelers. He knew everyone in the city of Richardson while he had a part time job driving people home from the Ford dealership. He also worked part time at O’Reilly car parts until well into his eighties. When he quit O’Reilly, they begged him to stay on telling him he had a future with the company despite his age.
He loved staying in contact with all his veteran organizations, and prided himself with all the emails and letters he would send out each year. The reunions were his favorite and he had so many veterans that he stayed in contract with. He also loved ham radio and even passed on his call sign to one of his great grandchildren.
Most recently, he worked with fellow veterans to establish a monument to recognize those veterans who worked on radar sites throughout the world. The Radar Station Veterans Association completed the monument in 2019 and it was dedicated on November 7, 2019, at the National Museum of the United States Air Force in Dayton, Ohio. Donald was extremely proud of this accomplishment.
He is survived by his wife Katherine, and five children: Daniel P. Simmons and Deborah Ryle - Simmons of Austin, Texas; Dennis W. Simmons, Wayne, New Jersey, Karen A. Simmons – Dyer and Dan Green, Ranchos De Taos, New Mexico, Donald Joseph Simmons of, Leonard, Texas, and David M. Simmons of Castle Rock, Colorado. Eleven grandchildren and seven great grandchildren also survive him.
A Celebration of Life and Legacy mass with military honors will be held at Saint Joseph Catholic Church in Richardson, Texas day and time of service will be updated once set. His ashes will be laid to rest in their Columbarium. During Lent, flowers are not encouraged. Please check back to the Restland Funeral Home website at a later date for full-service information.
In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to the Veteran Resource Center in Dallas, Texas. Their website is https://veteransresourcecenter.org/.
Funeral arrangements for Donald Dewit Simmons have been faithfully entrusted to Restland Funeral Home and Memorial Park - 13005 Greenville Ave., Dallas, Texas 75243.
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