Birth date: Apr 6, 1922 Death date: Dec 8, 2012
Dorothy Payne Simmons, 90, a resident of Annapolis, died peacefully December 8 at Rutherford Manor after a lengthy illness. She was born April 6, 1922 in Southeast, DC and resided primarily in Silver Spring, MD. She attended St. Read Obituary
With aging, my perspective shifts each year and I have more compassion and understanding for the life of both my parents. The had hard scrabble beginnings and from that, together, they created four daughters who were given many gifts - pets, including horses, nice clothes, homemade desserts, summers by the Bay and good seats at the Redskins' games. Mom worked too hard as a mom and wife. She sacrificed much to hold the family operation together. She had many fears of her own and I believe she faced each day and challenge with bravery. She gave me a strong sense of obligation, introduced me to my heroine, Rachel Carson, and supported my college career. I wish she had been able to go to college but through other channels, she became a well educated woman. I wish her peace and contentment now. I see her in me more than I realized.
Sue (oldest daughter)
It is a normal course of life for family elders to pass before the younger family members. This is how life works and this fact should make the loss of these beautiful and beloved people easier to deal with. This is the last thought I had when I was told of my grandmother’s death. My first thought of many was of the last family reunion I attended. Playing with my cousins in my grandparent’s back yard and ending up under my grandmother’s feet in the kitchen. I remember watching her in amazement like a human tornado cooking, setting the table, tending to the family members in the living room, laughing, and conversing with several people at the same time. It was just amazing to me to watch her spinning from one room to another, one situation to another, always smiling in fluent and constant motion. Oh, she was always asked by almost everyone if she needed help, her response was always, “No thanks, I got it, or no thanks, I’m fine. That was my grandmother in a phrase, No thanks I got it. I am a blessed woman to have been raised and loved by strong and self sufficient women. This was her legacy to be passed down to her daughters and their children. I am sure that if my grandmother were to be asked about this legacy she would shrug it off as a necessity of being a mother and caring for her family, but there is a beauty in the strength that can be seen in the faces and actions of those Dorothy Simmons loved and cared for. It’s this legacy I will pass on to my children and their children. As a family, this is our responsibility, all of us who were touched by this amazing woman, who made loving and caring for a family look effortless and natural. I can only hope that my grandchildren will on day look at me with that same amazement and love that I looked at my grandmother Dorothy with. I love you “Red Grandma”, you are safely kept in my heart.
Justine Borchetta
I got to talk to Mom the night before she died. I don't know if she heard me, but I believe that she did. Mothers and their children share a special bond that begins in the womb and goes on forever in thoughts, memories, and prayers. I learned many things from my mother: love of family, loyalty, persistence, hard work, and compassion for others. But most of all, I learned to make the most out of what you are given. She and my father started with little and worked as a team throughout their lives to make a good life for the family. They gave me and my sisters all that they had for as long as they could give it, and we will carry their memories in our hearts, be sustained by their strength, and pass on their legacy to our children and grandchildren.
Jo Ann Abell (daughter #2)
Dorothy was a very special person. She and Ben made quite a team over the many years they were together. Dorothy would have been as fine a lawyer as Ben was, but in those days a woman was not encouraged to enter the professions-a great loss for all of us. However, Dorothy passed on to her four beautiful daughters her intelligence with a fighting spirit and a never, never say die approach to life's challenges. Dorothy and Ben, as my parents did, lived in very difficult times, but they persevered and came out as truly the greatest generation. We will miss them all, but thanks to wonderful people like Dorothy and Ben we are all so much better for having known and loved them. God speed Dorothy and give Ben a hug for all of us.
Bill Abell
