A. Irene Simmons (Young)

Audrey Irene Simmons, 82, of Onawa, Iowa, formerly of Sioux City, passed away Sunday, Sept. 28, 2008, at a Sioux City hospital.

Services will be 10:30 a.m. Thursday at Morningside Assembly of God Church in Sioux City. Visitation will be 4 to 8 p.m. today, with the family present 6 to 8 p.m., at Morningside Chapel, Christy-Smith Funeral Home. Condolences may be sent online to www.christysmith.com .

Irene was born June 26, 1926, near Spickard, Mo., to Oren Young and Virginia Rose Edwards Young. As a child, she lived in Missouri, Kansas, Nebraska and Iowa, wherever her father's construction work took them. She did not finish a complete school year at the same school until junior high. She was a straight "A" student and the editor of the East High School paper. She graduated from there in 1944. She attended Central Bible Institute in Springfield, Mo. She received her license to preach through the Assemblies of God.

In 1947, she married the love of her life, Howard L. Simmons and they took up residence in Sioux City. Together they had nine children. When her husband passed away in 1969, she went to work at Morningside College, retiring in 1986 as head of the cashier's office.

She was a Bible scholar who began each day with personal devotions and lived it out in her daily life. She prayed for each of her children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren along with many others by name each day. She loved her Bible, quilting, reading, gardening and wrote extensively on Bible subjects and the adventures of her childhood. Many of her Bible studies are in the process of being published. She made teddy bears and baby dolls for the children in her life.

She was a member of Morningside Assembly of God since her early married years. She taught toddlers to seniors and every age in between during her more than 50 years of teaching. She was the staff sponsor of Morningside College's Koinonia group, ministering to student's spiritual needs. She held Friday night Bible studies in her home for teens and young adults for years, reaching many with the love of Christ. Many knew her with affection as Mom Simmons.

She lived the last two and one half years outside Onawa, Iowa with her special friend, her daughter, Christine Hough and her supportive husband, Allan.

She is survived by her brothers and their wives, John and Mary Young of Sioux City and James and Margie Young of Westfield, Iowa; a sister, Winnie Jean Dolphin of Sioux City; children and their spouses, Dennis Simmons, Laurice and Duwayne Rich of Sioux City, Jeffrey and Lois Simmons of Sergeant Bluff, Carolyn and Chuck Borden of Lincoln, Neb., Roger Simmons of Springfield, Mo., Christine and Allan Hough of Onawa, Dr. Leanne Simmons and Dr. Paul Fulks of Columbia, Ga., Scott Simmons of Missouri Valley, Iowa, and Joel and Jalinda Simmons of Upland, Ind.; 27 grandchildren; 24 great-grandchildren; and numerous nieces, nephews and other relatives.

She was preceded in death by her husband, Howard Simmons; her parents, Virginia Rose Edwards and Oren Young; in-laws, Rolly and Anna Herman Simmons; a brother-in-law, Jim Dolphin; brothers, Oren Young Jr. and Robert Young; a daughter-in-law, Bonnie Simmons; and a granddaughter, Gracie Wilcox.

She was loved and will be missed by many. Her legacy of loving Christ and serving others will survive in those she touched for generations.

Memorials may be directed to the family.