Elizabeth Simmons

Elizabeth Ellison Simmons

"Tibby"

1916 a€" 2009

Elizabeth Ellison Simmons a€" known as "Tibby" to her friends and family - died at her home at Crestwood Farm in Kaysville, Utah on March 14, 2009. She was an extraordinary wife and mother who spent her life serving others.

Tibby was born in Salt Lake City on September 14, 1916, the daughter of Laurence Ephraim Ellison and Catherine Maria Adams, and the granddaughter of pioneers who walked and rode across the plains to settle Utah. She was raised in Layton, Utah, with her brother and four sisters and graduated from Davis High School and the University of Utah, where she received a degree in Speech. She met Roy William Simmons in a drama class, where they performed together in a one-act play entitled "Grandma a€" Old Style," with Tibby playing the role of his grandmother. They were married on October 28, 1938 and later sealed in the Salt Lake Temple.

Tibby found great satisfaction in working with young people. She was a devoted advisor to the "M-Men and Gleaners" group of young adults in her Layton ward, and was not beyond employing an off-duty officer in a squad car to deliver a "summons" inviting less-active members of the group to participate in activities. A number of couples met and married in her class, and remained her lifelong friends. She served on the General Board of the Young Women''s organization for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and traveled to many countries instructing young women''s leaders.

She had a natural gift for good design and was a talented historic preservationist. She worked on the restorations of the Joseph Smith, Sr. home in Palmyra, New York; the Sarah Kimball home in Nauvoo, Illinois; and Brigham Young''s Lion House in Salt Lake City, where she also served on the board for many years. She also restored the Abram Hatch mansion in Heber City (as a Zions Bank branch) and the Deseret Telegraph Co. office in Rockville, Utah. She loved the experience of working with blind craftsmen at the Deseret Industries rug factory, creating beautiful pioneer-era rugs for the latter project. These workers became some of her dear friends.

Her drama class experience led to a lifetime love of the theatre, one of a variety of interests she shared with her husband. The Roy W. and Elizabeth E. Simmons Pioneer Memorial Theatre on the University of Utah campus is a tribute to their support for live theatre. She also loved music and playing the marimba a€" a talent she enjoyed her entire life. She was actively involved in the Bay View Club and the Kaysville Art Club for many years.

Tibby and Roy''s marriage of over sixty-seven years was an inspiring example to everyone who knew them. They were incredibly devoted partners and parents, and more than anything loved being surrounded by their grandchildren on trips to Rockville and at annual outings in southern California and Arizona.

She is preceded in death by her husband, Roy W. Simmons; her brother, Harris Ellison, and her sisters, Oma Wilcox and Bonnie Rae Barlow; and two grandchildren, Alexandra Watkins and John "Jack" Simmons. She is survived by her six children: Julia Watkins (Mack), Matt (Ellen), L.E. (Ginny), Liza Hoke (Bland), Harris (Amanda) and David (Melinda). She is also survived by 26 grandchildren and 20 great grandchildren. The family expresses its deep appreciation to the extraordinary and caring nurses from Caregivers Support Network who have been our mother''s constant companions in recent years, and have themselves become like family to us.

Funeral services will be held on Saturday, March 21, 2009 at 11:00 a.m. at the Crestwood chapel, 1039 E. Crestwood Road, Kaysville, Utah. Friends may call at Lindquist''s Kaysville Mortuary, 400 North Main Street, Kaysville, on Friday evening, March 20, from 6:00 to 8:00 p.m. or on Saturday at the church from 9:30 to 10:30 a.m. Interment at the Kaysville Cemetery. In her honor, a memorial fund has been established at Pioneer Theatre Company.