Colleen C Simmons

Colleen Clare Tracey was born November 4, 1929, the elder daughter of Arthur Tracey and Kathryn Wehlage.  Colleen spent the first 19 years of her life in her beloved home town, Sioux Falls, SD, surrounded by a large extended Irish family. She was very proud that her two grandmothers were Maggie Sweeney and Grace Riley.

Colleen was educated by the Dominican nuns of Sinsinawa and at Augustana College. In high school, she was a member of the Quill and Scroll Society and the National Honor Society. She had her first job at the age of 14, during World War II.

The family moved to San Diego in 1948 and opened a "drugless drug" store. It was here she met a starving college student, Edward Dorne Simmons. They married in 1950 and moved to China Lake for the proverbial two years. She was employed at the Naval Ordnance Test Station and at the old China Lake School District. There they raised four children, all of whom graduated from St. Ann's School in Ridgecrest.

Colleen and her friends for many years organized carpools for all the China Lake children who attended St. Ann's School. She also volunteered countless other hours for the school. She studied the family's genealogy for over fifty years. She planned two family reunions and enjoyed scrapbooking.

She was predeceased by her husband Ed, her parents Art and Kathryn, and her beloved sister Kathleen. She is survived by her four children and their spouses: James, Brian (Melva), Sheila (Richard Semana), and Monica (Tom Azumbrado). She is also survived by eleven grandchildren, twelve great-grandchildren, and three great-great grandchildren. She is also survived by special nephews and niece AJ, Sean, and Mary and their families, daughter-in-law Betty Grady, and devoted family friend Paula Smith.

Mom wanted everyone to know that until just prior to her death, she could still name all the presidents of the United States in order from Washington to Biden and could still recite "Casey at the Bat" from memory. She also asked that there be no flowers at her rosary or funeral. Instead, the family suggests memorial contributions to St. Ann's School in Ridgecrest or the Historical Society of the Upper Mojave Desert.

The rosary will be held at 5:00 PM at the chapel at Holland and Lyons Mortuary on Thursday, August 11th. The funeral Mass will be held at 10:00 on Friday August 12 ^th at St. Ann's Church in Ridgecrest. Burial will take place immediately after Mass at Desert Memorial Park. Following the burial, a lunch reception will be held in the St. Ann's parish hall.