Simmons

George Simmons, 85, of 1 Jady Hill Ave., Exeter, N.H., formerly of 2 Chauncey Creek Road in Kittery Point, Maine, died Sunday after a battle with brain cancer.

Born in Greentree in the hill country south of Pittsburgh, June 10, 1923, he was the fourth child of Frank Simmons and Mary Buttlar. He and his mother lived with his oldest brother, Frank Simmons, and at an early age, he helped with the delivery and sale of produce from the family farm.

A childhood interest in becoming an airman was realized when he enlisted in the Army Air Corps shortly after the outbreak of World War II. He graduated from Officer Candidate School in Miami Beach, Fla., in 1943.

He was commissioned as a second lieutenant, served in the 340th Squadron of the 348th Fighter Group of the Fifth Air Force in support of Gen. Douglas McArthur's island hopping campaign, moving northward from Borneo to the Philippines and finally to the island of Ie Shima, just 300 miles south of Japan.

He flew close air support and ground support missions from New Guinea to China and Japan in the P-47 Thunderbolt and P-51 Mustang and retained a lifelong attachment to the P-51.

He joined United Air Lines as a commercial pilot in 1952. While stationed in Chicago, he met his future wife, Muriel Schmitt, a United Air Lines stewardess at Midway Airport. They married Oct. 23, 1954. He moved his family from Napersville, Ill., to Exeter in 1958.

He was an active pilot and member of the Air Line Pilots Association until he retired as a captain in 1983.

He was instrumental in helping his wife establish Muriel E. Simmons Realtors and was a licensed broker and real estate appraiser from the mid-1970s through the mid-1980s. He and his wife owned the historic Sullivan Sleeper House in downtown Exeter, where the real estate company was based for many years and later established the Inn by the Bandstand at the same location in the early 1990s.

He was active in community affairs, a volunteer with Seacoast Big Brother and Sisters and a friend to many.

He golfed, played tennis and loved sports. He was an active investor in the stock market. He made a tradition of spending the first days of hunting season with his brother's large extended family in Butler County, where he was simply known as "Uncle George."

He was very devoted to his wife, children and grandchildren.

He is survived by his wife, Muriel; his three children, Laura Simmons of Seattle, Wash., Suzanne Simmons of Wolfeboro, N.H., and Douglas Simmons of Stratham, N.H.; and two grandchildren, Rory Simmons Heath and Addie Heath Simmons.

All who knew George remember him as a genuine, caring person, never short of a smile, a handshake or an amusing story. He will be missed by many and remembered fondly.

<B>SIMMONS</B> — Calling hours for George Simmons, who died Sunday, Nov. 16, 2008, will be held from 4 to 7 p.m. Thursday at the <B>Brewitt Funeral Home</B>, 14 Pine St., Exeter, N.H. A Mass of Christian burial will be celebrated at noon Friday at St. Michael Church, Exeter. Burial with military honors will follow at the Exeter Cemetery.In lieu of flowers, donations may be made in his memory to the Seacoast Hospice, 10 Hampton Road, Exeter, NH 03833.To sign an online guest book, please visit www.brewittfuneralhome.com.