Name: Visitation for William S. Simmons
Start: 2018-06-08T21:00:00.000Z
End: 2018-06-09T00:00:00.000Z
Location: Monahan Drabble Sherman Funeral Home

SIMMONS, WILLIAM S.
79, died June 2nd after a battle with cancer. He was the husband of Cheryl Simmons, father of Riva Mullins and Kaia Simmons and grandfather of Shane and Kai Mullins. He was a professor at Brown University for 20 years.
Visiting hours will be Friday from 5-8pm in the Monahan Drabble Sherman Funeral Home 230 Waterman St. Providence. The funeral will be on Saturday at 1pm in the Historic Chapel of Swan Point Cemetery, Blackstone Blvd. Providence. A reception will follow. In lieu of flowers, donations may be sent to Hope Hospice, 1085 North Main St., Providence, RI 02904. Complete obituary at monahandrabblesherman.com

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Published by The Providence Journal from Jun. 6 to Jun. 7, 2018.

Memories and Condolences
for William Simmons

Sponsored by Monahan Drabble Sherman Funeral Home.

12 Entries

Tom Brody, Ph.D.

October 11, 2021

This is to respectfully remember Professor William Simmons. He taught at Univ. California at Berkeley from 1967 to 1998, and in 1972 I took his course on Native Americans. Our book was Indians of North America by Harold Driver. One of the lectures in the course included a black and white movie, showing Indian ceremonies. Prof. Simmons' course resulted in me having a continuing interest in the topic and, in the coming decades, I read books about the Hopi, Zuni, Navajo, and Kumeyaay Indian tribes. Fifteen years ago, when my daughter was a little kid, we visited Monument Valley in Utah. In the early morning, we walked out into the desert and sat down, and we spent 15 minutes reading from a book of Navajo prayers. I thank Professor Simmons, for influencing my cultural interests. In turn, I have transmitted these interests to my daughter.

Tom Brody

July 23, 2018

This is to express sadness for Prof. William S. Simmons. I took his class on Native Americans in the year 1975, when I was an undergrad senior at U.C. Berkeley. I still have my textbooks from his class, including Driver's book, "Indians of North America." A bit later on, I held a faculty position at Univ. of Hawaii, and purely by chance, I ran into Prof. Simmons and one of his daughters. My job was to teach nutrition and biochemistry. As I recall, the daughter was contemplating enrolling at Univ. of Hawaii. Just today, I posted a YELP review for Mission Trails Regional Park, where I acknowledged the lasting influence of Prof. Simmons' class on me and, in particular, on the respect that I've shown from afar, on the native American cultures that are still evident in Wisconsin (Indian Mounds), northern California (Yurok, Hurok, Miwok, Ohlone), and elsewhere in America. Tom Brody, Ph.D.

Antjhony De Luca

June 12, 2018

To Bill's entire family,
My deepest condolences on the loss of a truly remarkable person:a classmate of mine at Classical High School,who was gifted athletically,intellectually and socially.

I feel blessed and privilidged to have known him.

Arlene Violet

June 12, 2018

Professor Simmons was the consummate gentleman and scholar. He helped me immeasurably on a project involving the Narragansett Historic Tribal Office. His expert fee? A cup of coffee! I shall treasure his friendship!Deepest sympathies to his family.
Former Attorney General Arlene Violet

June 10, 2018

I am very sorry to hear about bill. I am the wife f David t smith. David is bills cousin. DAVID MOTHER WAS SISTER OF BILLS FATHER. I LOST DAVID ON MARCH 7TH OF MARH. Daivid talked a lot about Bill. love Charlene Jeremiah Holly and Noah

Lisa Churchville

June 8, 2018

Bill was a wonderful member of our community and I am ever grateful for the contributions he made to the Providence Public Library.

Stanley Freedman

June 8, 2018

My condolences to William's family and loved ones. I have nice memories of William from Classical High School when he ran on the track team. He ran very fast and didn't bother jumping over the hurdles, just running through them.
I was the team manager then.
I saw him again many years later on the Brown campus and had a wonderful conversation together.

Silvermoon Mars-LaRose

June 7, 2018

On behalf of the family of Rev. Roland Mars, I would like to send our deepest condolences. As a researcher, Bill Simmons visited with many of our tribal people including my grandfather, Rev. Harold Mars, whom he spent a considerable amount of time with. His recording of Narragansett tribal history and his desire for first person resources is a notable achievement that we are very grateful for, especially the recording of my grandparents' words as a legacy for our family. I am actually in a photograph in one of his books sitting on my grandmother's lap during one of his visits. I believe I was only 2-3 at the time. A wonderful memory. Thank you very much for all you have done. Our sincere condolences to the family and prayers for God's comfort.

John Casey

June 7, 2018

A lovely man with a great passion for history and knowledge. His loss will be deeply felt by all who knew him.

June 6, 2018

May God bless you and your family in this time of sorrow.

RICHARD BOOTH

June 6, 2018

Cheryl, Riva and Kaia, I only wish I knew the words to comfort you at this time as I have not found them to comfort myself. Bill and I grew up together, born one day apart. We attended the same schools from K -12. Always friends. I often tell the story of us finding a large nest of baby snakes as we were on our way to school. We gathered up the snakes and put them into our pockets and continued on to school only to have them slither out during class. Needless to say our parents were subsequently involved. We
never did that again!
I will miss our inane conversations. Save me a seat Bill.

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