James Edward Simmons died Friday, November 24, 2017, at MedPark Hospital in Chisinau, Moldova.
Born June 1, 1939, in Bartow, he was a son of Maurice and Gladys Simmons.
Jim was a graduate of Green Bank High School, Glenville State College and Marshall University, earning degrees in Business Education, Social Studies and Guidance Counseling. He was a teacher and guidance counselor in Kanawha County Schools and in Pocahontas County Schools for seven years. He was School Administrator in Kanawha County for 27 years. He was also administrator in Horry County Schools in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina.
He was an active board member in the West Virginia Pioneer Credit Union and Russia and West Virginia: A Partnership for Exchange Foundation, Inc. He was a member of the Cross Lanes Methodist Church and then the First Presbyterian Church of Myrtle Beach, South Carolina.
James and his wife, Virginia, were residents of Leland, North Carolina, but had lived the last years in Kazan, Russia; Battambang, Cambodia, and Chisinau, Moldova. He travelled extensively with family and friends.
In addition to his parents, he was preceded in death by a sister, Mary Jean Galford.
He is survived by his wife, Virginia Gill Simmons, of Leland, North Carolina; a daughter, Melissa Marie Blair, and husband, Dwight, of Wilmington, North Carolina; a son, Cameron David Simmons, and significant other, Lindsay Dean, of Wilmington, North Carolina; daughter of the heart, Marlene Anita Price, of Charleston; and four grandchildren, Joseph Simmons, Gavin Simmons, Bryan Blair and Abigail Blair. He was the solid rock of this family. He is also survived by a sister, Norma Brockway, of White Sulphur Springs; and a brother, William Howard Simmons, of Cross Lanes.
In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to Russia and West Virginia: A Partnership for Exchange Foundation, Inc., www.gofundme.com/memorial-for-james-simmons
