Ruth Blackstock Simmons, 84, of Huntsville, AL passed away on Friday, July 16, 2021, from complications related to a long-term battle with dementia. Born in Kosciusko, MS on February 6, 1937, she was married for over 60 years to childhood sweetheart Reginald Simmons until he passed in 2014, then continued to live with support from family in the home they built in south Huntsville in 1968. In January 2021 she moved to a local memory care community for several months until her health deteriorated, and she was admitted to hospice and moved to her son’s residence where she remained until her death.
She lived a life of faith and service to others as a stay-at-home mother for her two children, then later volunteering in the nursery at Weatherly Heights Baptist Church, helping her mother with her own battle with dementia, and her neighbor up the street when she was elderly and needed assistance. She loved to cook, was an avid gardener with a keen eye for flower arranging, played basketball and golfed when the family moved to Kwajalein in the Marshall Islands for a few years in the 1970s, worked for many years alongside Reginald as a poll worker for Precinct 19, and was devoted to her family throughout her life.
Ruth was preceded in death by her parents, O.J. “Jack” Blackstock and Velma Murphy Blackstock, sister, Beverly Vickery, brother, Jim Blackstock, husband, Reginald Simmons, and youngest brother, Larry Blackstock just last month. She was the eldest of the Blackstock siblings. Survivors include daughter, Felicia Baker and her husband, Chuck; son, Rex Simmons and his wife, Elizabeth; grandchildren, Sidney Simmons and Catherine Simmons Jacobson; two great-grandchildren; and several nieces and nephews.
Visitation will be at Weatherly Heights Baptist Church in Huntsville on Friday, July 23, 2021, at 10 a.m. with the memorial service at 11 a.m. Her cremains will be inurned in a private family ceremony along with her husband Reginald in the columbarium at Good Shepherd Catholic Church where her son and daughter-in-law are members.
In lieu of flowers, please make contributions in memory of Ruth to the Dementia Society of America by mail to PO Box 600, Doylestown, PA, 18901, or online. Donations to Weatherly Heights Baptist Church are also appreciated.
