Leola “Mimi” Simmons, wife of retired Covenant
pastor Dan Simmons, died May 11,
2020.
Mary Leola Smith was born in Sequim, Washington. Her parents, Fannie and Moford, had moved her six siblings to the Pacific Northwest from Alabama, traveling to a land of more bountiful resources like many dust bowl travelers of their time. As the youngest, Leola was doted upon by her siblings as she grew up on her family’s dairy farm. She went through school in Port Angeles and Sequim and studied at Springfield Bible College in Missouri and at a nursing school in Iowa.
In 1959, Leola visited her sister Tallah in California where she met Dan Simmons, a friend of her brother-in-law. They married in 1960 at her home church in Sequim. They were married for 60 adventurous years, with 18 of their best years in Missoula, Montana. That’s where Leola modeled her priorities—nurturing her community, and raising her children, daughters Deirdre, Micahle, and Shanna, and son, Breton, born 15 years after their daughters. It was in Missoula that Leola went by “Mimi” after being resolutely renamed by her first grandchild, Jasmine.
In 1984, Mimi moved to Cyprus with Dan, seven-year-old Breton, daughter Micahle, son-in-law Matthew, and two-year-old grandson, Dmitri, for a new adventure while Dan worked as a consultant to the director of the Middle East Council of Churches. She traveled with Dan and Breton thru Syria, Jordan, Palestine, and Israel. They visited and befriended a diverse array of people, from queens and ministers of state to families in refugee camps. Her heart was broken and her anger stirred by the suffering of people who were poor and oppressed. She was amazed by people’s hospitality and kindness. Her kindness, compassion, and cuisine expanded from her travels, and grilled halloumi cheese will forever be a favorite among her grandchildren.
Throughout her life, she possessed a great love for children, both her own and those she cared for. After moving to Portland, Oregon, in 1986 with Dan, Shanna, and Bret, she cared for children in her home with Shanna’s steadfast assistance. She was a quintessential grandmother to her grandchildren, Dmitri, Granite, Jasmine, Lily, Léon, and great-grandson Solomon. She became an honorary grandmother to many other families as she cared for their children from infancy into their school years. She shared her kindness, love for cooking (especially with butter) and wonder at nature’s beauty as she marveled at colorful individual leaves or stopped mid-sentence to exclaim at a bird flying above the pond outside her window. Her house rule was, “You can do anything you want as long as it doesn’t hurt you or anyone else.” She made every child feel loved and seen in a profoundly individual way.
Leola was a wonderful cook and baker, having learned from her mother on the family farm how to feed a crowd with love. She had a large, eclectic library of cookbooks including many years of Gourmet magazine that she treasured. Multitudes of travelers, friends, friends-of-friends, and soon-to-be-friends experienced her characteristic kindness first through her food.
Despite her gentle demeanor, she had an unexpectedly dry wit and a deadpan sense of humor. Leola took delight in many small joys; she loved trees, autumn leaves, birds, apples, flowers, the Portland Trail Blazers, the Pacific coast, and watching tennis.
In the last years of her life, as she was slowed by Alzheimer’s, Dan took over all of the homemaking chores and diligently cared for Leola with love and tenderness. She was confident that death was not an end, but rather an open door. A few months before she died, she said, “At the end of the day there is only one thing, to let go and fall into grace.” She was a woman of quiet and deep faith expressed in love.
Leola “Mimi” Simmons was survived by her husband, Dan; children Deirdre (Douglas), Micahle (Matthew), Shanna, Bret (Mayra); grandchildren Jasmine (Jared), Dmitri (Erin), Granite, Lily, Léon; and great-grandson Solomon.
A memorial service was held in Missoula on July 11 at the Silver Park Pavilion on the Clark Fork River. Another memorial on the beach, near her childhood home in Sequim, was held on August 7 at Port Williams State Park.
Peace be to her memory.
