Donald Otis Simmons

Donald Otis Simmons, Sr., age 85, of Gulfport, died Sunday, November 11, 2012 in Gulfport. He was drafted into the U.S. Army while still in high school and reported to boot camp the day he graduated. He served overseas in Italy as World War II was winding down. After his military service, he attended college at Perkinston Junior College and the University of Southern Mississippi. He graduated from law school at Ole Miss in 1952 and joined his father in the practice of law in Gulfport until his father’s death in June 1963. Mr. Simmons maintained his law practice and served many years as a Trustee appointed by the Federal Bankruptcy Court until he retired in 2004. He was an avid hunter and enjoyed many trips around the country to hunt. He always had a great love for boating and enjoyed many fishing and pleasure trips in the waters in and around the Mississippi Gulf Coast. Mr. Simmons possessed a witty, dry sense of humor and enjoyed surrounding himself with laughter. He was preceded in death by parents, John Urie Simmons and Elizabeth Edwards Simmons; a brother, John Urie (JU) Simmons; a sister, Elaine Simmons Eskald. He is survived by his wife, Stella Ruth Simmons, of Gulfport; daughters, Margaret Ann Simmons of Gulfport, Janice Arden Baxter of Ocean Springs, and Mary Elizabeth (Betsy) Farris of Pass Christian; a son, Donald Simmons, Jr. of Pass Christian; eleven grandchildren and twenty-three great grandchildren. A gathering of family and friends will be held Friday, November 16, 2012 from 4:00 until 6:00 p.m. at Bradford-O’Keefe Funeral Home, 15th Street, Gulfport. View and sign register book at www.bradfordokeefe.com