Jennifer Elizabeth Simmons

Graveside services for Mrs. Jennifer Simmons, 66, of Ravia, Oklahoma will be held on Tuesday, June 21, 2016 at 10:00 a. m. at the Ravia Cemetery. Viewing will be held from 4-7 pm only, Monday afternoon at the funeral home. The casket will not be opened at the service.Jennifer Elizabeth (Wood) Simmons, our beloved mother, sister, grandmother "Ju-Ju", and friend, passed away on June 16, 2016. She was born in Seminole, Oklahoma and moved to Odessa, Texas at age two. She graduated from Permian High School in 1968, then attended Texas Tech and UT Austin. In 1972, she married John Simmons and endeavored to achieve her associate degree from UT in Dallas while tending to her first loves, home and family.Later, while living in Tennessee, she became a "house mother" sponsor for the area's active student foreign exchange program. She maintained close contact with these students and visited their families through many years, and so became an avid world traveler by herself and with John. However, for Jen, there was always "no place like home." She loved reading and writing; her favorite interests were Victorian England and Western history, about which she published two no-fiction books.Jen and John moved to Ravia in 2005, occupying the house on land that her great-great-grandparents Parker homesteaded in 1895. She nourished a commitment to community and served as Ravia's mayor. Jen always had an "eye for style" and worked as a home decorator/consultant in Dallas, and locally. With her son, Jeff, she established her dream store, The Hometown Junction, a store of simple handicrafts and uniquely exotic items. She had a knack for restoring "old" things to bring out their beauty. Jen enjoyed playing dominoes and card games, and was excellent at poker and tournament bridge. In Johnston County, she looked forward to socializing with her good friends in two bridge groups and at "hand and foot." Jennifer loved and supported her children, took pride in her adored grandchildren, and cherished a life of laughter with her many friends near and far.She was preceded in death by her parents, Herman "Herbie" Wood and Mary "Mary-Mom" Frances (Parker) Wood; husband John A. Simmons and brother, Luke Shane Wood.Her surviving family members include, daughter, Kimberly (Simmons) Ingram and husband Kevin with grandsons, Ethan and Evan Ingram of Southhaven, Mississippi; son, Jeffrey Simmons of Ravia and grandchildren, Taylor and Jaxon; sister, Jeanne Kennerly and husband Randy of Boulder, Colorado; nephew, Chris Kennerly and his sons, Shane and Mason of Palo Alto, California; nephew, Ryan Wood of Billings, Montana; Cousins and family, Raymond and Karen Scott of Ardmore, Oklahoma.Memorials may be made in Jennifer's name to: The Veterans of Foreign Wars, 406 W. 34th Street, Kansas City, MO 64111 or The Wounded Warrior Project, PO Box 758517, Topeka, Kansas 66675.

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Jennifer Elizabeth Simmons

May 9, 1950 - June 17, 2016