My Grandpa Simmons

My Grandpa Ralph D Simmons is an amazing man.  I admire him a lot.  My mom said that if I find someone like him to marry I will be very lucky.  I believe that.  He was born on September 18, 1921 in Lakeshore Utah.  He learned to use a rifle before enlisting in the army in WWII.  Mom says that she would come home sometimes to a deer on the table.  They lived in Wyoming so it isn’t all that surprising.  Grandpa grew up in the Great Depression.  I think he told me when I asked that he never went without. Things were tight and he learned not to be wasteful.  A lesson I learned from his example. 

My Aunt Nan says that he used to call their dog in by whistling.  He was very handy.  He was in to carpentry.  He worked in a steel mill.  My mom said that she remembers his lunch pail.  When they saw his lunch pail around the house, that meant he was home. 

He married Grandma Ruth Irene Woodson Simmons in 1945.  Grandma was a spunky woman.  I think the story went that Grandpa got home from the war and she knew she wanted to marry him, but when he didn’t ask, she started going on dates and he realized he didn’t want her dating other men so he married her.  Good call on Grandpa’s part.

Grandpa told me that all his kids have always been kind of industrious.  They knew they had to work for what they wanted so they did.  I can see that in my mom.  She values hard work.  In the stories they tell about different things they did to get what they wanted as children are amusing.  “Industrious” doesn’t always cover it. 

I like the story of how my Grandma and Grandpa joined (rejoined for my Grandpa) the church.  They took the lessons and then they got to talking.  Grandma told him that she thought it was the true church, but they had to make the decision as a couple to join or not join.  It shows how they valued their marriage and each other’s opinion.  Luckily they’re both pretty smart and they joined the church together