Earl Henry Simmons

Obituary

On April 30, 2020, Earl Henry Simmons, of Chicago and Kalispell, passed peacefully at Immanuel Lutheran Skilled Nursing Home. He was 87 years old.

Earl spent most of his childhood in Hammond, Indiana and in and around Chicago. He graduated from Hammond High and went on to get a degree in Math and Accounting at Northwestern University in Chicago. It was in Chicago that Earl met the love of his life, Grace Louise Riley. They married on June 14, 1958 in Grace’s hometown of Mears, Michigan. They both had a love affair with western Michigan and traveled there often over the years. Grace and Earl started a family and had four children; Sherry, Scott, Linda and Jeff.

They moved to a Chicago western suburb, Villa Park, in 1960, where Earl had the house built new and he planted the lawn by hand. As the kids grew up, it wasn’t unusual at all the see a number of the neighborhood kids in the yard with Earl teaching them to play all sorts of sports from baseball to hockey. Earl was patient and kind, especially with kids. There were plenty of vacations to Michigan, either for the weekend or for the two-week trip to Bear Lake. This is where Earl and Grace honeymooned and the family took a two-week vacation there for years. We all loved Bear Lake, but especially Earl.

Earl loved many people and many things: Bear Lake, fishing, the Cubs, Chicago food, Chicago, and the lakeshore of Lake Michigan, whether it was Illinois, Michigan or later, Wisconsin. He loved his family most of all. He is survived by his beautiful wife of almost 62 years, Grace, and, his adult children, Sherry Simmons, Scott Simmons, Linda Simmons and Jeff Simmons. He has three daughters-in-law: Noreen Simmons, Gina Simmons and Corlyn Simmons, with four grandchildren; Kyle Simmons, Connor Simmons, Ella Simmons and Owen Simmons. He was loved, and he will be missed.