Ralph Emerson Simmons Sr.
- Published: April 30, 2026
Ralph Emerson Simmons Sr., of Huber Heights, Ohio, died Sunday, April 19, 2026, at age 87, after a full life guided by a devotion to family and a commitment to service.
He was born Oct. 25, 1938, near Brookville, Ohio, to Robert Sr. and Mabel (Sensenbaugh) Simmons, the middle child of three. The family eventually moved to a farm outside West Alexandria, in Preble County, where as a teenager Ralph worked a variety of odd jobs while also helping his father with farming responsibilities — and he still managed to have an active social life with many friends, some with whom he remained close his entire life. Among his extra-curricular activities were accordion lessons, for which he took a Greyhound bus into downtown Dayton; serving as captain of the high school football team; and playing tenor saxophone and then tuba in the marching band — sometimes still wearing parts of his football uniform during the halftime show.
A week after graduating from high school in 1957, Ralph and a buddy headed to Camp Pendleton in San Diego, California, for boot camp in the U.S. Marine Corps. His service remained a source of pride throughout his life.
While back in Ohio on leave in summer 1958, he met the love of his life, Virginia Vanover, of Eaton, Ohio, marrying her on his next leave in January 1959. The young couple went back to California for the remainder of his three-year stint, welcoming their first child, daughter Carol, 11 months later.
After his service ended, the growing family returned to West Alexandria, where a second child, son Ralph Jr. was born, before they settled for a time in Dayton, Ohio. Ralph worked first for Globe Industries, and then joined the Dayton Fire Department, where he served 27 years before retiring at the rank of lieutenant in 1991. In Dayton, another child, son Eric, was born.
When the children were ready to start school, the family moved to Brookville, Ohio, staying about five years before settling for good in Huber Heights, Ohio, where two more children, son John and daughter Linda, were born.
He continued to work for another eight years after his fire department retirement, variously driving commercial trucks locally (eventually joining the Teamsters) and making prescription drug deliveries for an area pharmacy. He loved getting to know all the delivery clients.
A member of the Brethren Church as a child, and proudly baptized at 13, Ralph joined the Disciples of Christ denomination as an adult, and became active in the life of his church, taking on such care-taking roles as driving other members to services and mowing the church grounds with a fellow member and good friend. He also went on several mission trips through the church, including to Moore, Oklahoma, after devastating tornadoes there, and New Orleans after Katrina.
In addition to the church trips, he accompanied daughter Carol, while she was coordinator of a regional Quaker teen group, on five, 10-day summer service trips to Hominy, Oklahoma; Washington, D.C.; Philadelphia; southeastern Ohio/West Virginia coal country; and Monteverde, Costa Rica. He loved the teens, and they loved him.
Ralph loved most people and struck up friendships wherever he went. He had a perpetual twinkle in his eyes that invited connection. He enjoyed hunting trips with his buddies, playing poker on Saturdays, digging in his garden, anything chocolate and “Columbo.”
Ralph was preceded in death by his parents and his older brother, Dr. Robert Simmons Jr., and younger sister, Ruth Ann (Simmons) Aaronson.
He is survived by his wife of 67 years, Virginia (Vanover) Simmons, of Huber Heights, an abundance of dear friends and his five children and their extended families, including three grandsons in Kentucky, two grandsons in North Carolina and two granddaughters in Indiana, as well as a great-granddaughter in North Carolina..
The Yellow Springs branch consists of daughter Carol Simmons (Diane Fitch) and their children: Mattie Fitch (Jordan Stiver) and Mattie and Jordan’s children, Julien Stiver and Pippin and Varian Fitch-Stiver; Porter Fitch (Rachel Mousie), now of Cincinnati; and Hollister Fitch (Ian Sherman), now of Burlington, Vermont.
The funeral service took place Saturday, April 25, 2026, at Gilbert-Fellers Funeral Home, in Brookville, and burial followed at Fairview Cemetery in West Alexandria.
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