Will “Bill” Simmons

Mr. Will “Bill” Simmons, age 74, of Nashville passed away Thursday, November 10, 2016 at his home with his family at his side.

Will was born in Saint Ignace on April 12, 1942, the son of the late Hugh and Dorothy (Fiedler) Simmons.

Will spent his early childhood years in the Upper Peninsula until moving to Little Fork Minnesota where he lived with his grandparents. When Will was 9 years old the family moved to Lacey, despite barely having a roof and no electricity or plumbing, in the house, the family moved in anyway.

Will worked at Hastings Manufacturing in Hastings for 4 years until 1972 when he moved his family to the Upper Peninsula to log pulpwood. He and his family moved back to Lacey in 1974 to take a job as a Crane Operator for Franklin Iron & Metal in Battle Creek. Will loved working around scrap metal and he spent over 16 years with Franklin before starting his own contract metal recycling business which he operated for several years. Will retired from Dimond Machinery but continued scrapping as a hobby until his passing.

In his spare time, Will loved to work on motorcycles, race go carts, drive his corvette and scrapping metal. He was always extremely proud of his children and their service in the military. Due to a disability Will was not able to serve in the military but found other ways to volunteer his time as an Emergency Medical Technician for the BPOH, Boy Scout leader for 8 years, and most recently helping at the VFW for the weekly fish fry where he was paid with a free dinner and cold beer.

Will is survived by his daughter, Anna (Darrin) Reid, four sons Will II (Della) Simmons, Lloyd (Christine) Simmons, Joseph (Mary Ann) Simmons, Jacob Simmons, two sisters, Carol (Dave) Patrick, Judy (Dale) Hose, three brothers, Art (Kathy) Simmons, Lloyd Simmons, Earl Simmons, his beloved grandchildren Will Simmons III, Kody Simmons, Jalen Simmons, Ted Simmons, Beth Simmons, Autumn Simmons, Dustin Simmons, Carly Simmons, Kaiden Reid, two great grandchildren, Clayton and Zander and adopted family Monique (Jay) Scott, Shilo, Mackie, Hailey, Kylie, and Katie (Chris) Johnson.

Funeral Services will be held at The Grace Community Church, Nashville, MI, at 2:00 PM on Saturday, November 19th, with Will’s son, Reverend Lloyd Simmons officiating.

The family will receive visitors on Friday November 18, 2016 from 6-8 PM at The Daniels Funeral Home in Nashville.

Interment will take place privately at Union Cemetery.

Memorial contributions can be made to the family of Will Simmons for a headstone, the remainder will be donated to the VFW.

Funeral arrangements have been entrusted to the Daniels Funeral Home in Nashville, MI. For further details please visit our website at Welcome to Daniels Funeral Home