Ridgewood, New Jersey
Chef of the Wee Hours
Kathy Simmons awoke to the smell of onions cooking.
Onions? At 5:30 a.m. on a Saturday?
Downstairs, her husband, Bruce, was happily sautéing 200 of them.
That weekend, as a trustee of the Maroons Soccer Club in Ridgewood, N.J., he would oversee food concessions at the annual tournament. Mrs. Simmons realized, laughing, that the passion he brought as a partner to Sandler O'Neill & Partners compelled him to seek the next level, even when it came to hamburgers and hot dogs. He wanted sautéed onions too.
Mr. Simmons had taken a year off in college to try being a chef, and had honed that skill. He could make a surprise spice cake for his wife's birthday, or a treat for his daughter Emma, 2. And he could teach Meghan, 13, to make beef Wellington.
He brought the same enthusiasm to coaching soccer. Mrs. Simmons saw this 41- year-old man running with his son Jack, 10, and the other little boys as if he were a boy himself. Their team reached first place last spring, but it was never just about winning. He wanted each child to do his best, have fun and learn how to recover from a loss. Smiling, he put onions into crockpots. "You're mad," she said, and loved him for it.
There are so many words to describe Bruce. Friend, compassionate, humble, leader are only some. I always said that of all the people I knew, I'd follow him into a foxhole any day. I admired him and saw him as a role model for so many of us.
Matt O'Neill
September 11, 2024 | Friend
jann kindel
September 11, 2021
jann kindel
September 11, 2021
We did the 9/11 memorial WOD today... every year, I do it and think of Bruce and pray for the Simmons family. We will never forget. Sending love and light.
jann kindel
September 11, 2021
On the eve on the 18th year after 9/11/01 and as I sit in my office at Merrill Lynch I cry...Bruce I miss you so much.. Mom is struggling more this year then in past years. I pray for her to find peace.... I will be with you tomorrow and will be praying that all who were murdered on 9/11 are with God and at peace.. I know you can see the 9/11 memorial and it truly is a tribute to everyone from that fated day, now 18 years ago. Every year I hear from so many people in your honor.. I intend...
David Simmons
September 10, 2019 | Cumming, GA | Brother
On this anniversary of 9/11, may you find peace and walk in sunshine, you are missed and loved by family and fellow classmates. You are an angel watching over us, I will always remember the good times at HHS.
Barbara Godlewsky-Horutz
September 11, 2017 | Mount Bethel, PA
I never had known Bruce, but I do recognize the pain of the tragedy called 9/11. I know the family and I can't imagine what Kathy, Emma, and the rest in their family. I know it is nearly 16 years late to say my condolences, but better late then never. I wish my condolences upon the Simmons family from now and the rest from here. I was born on October 15 in 2001, just a few weeks after this tragedy. My father was directly across the street and saw the first plane fly into the first tower so I...
Parker Mueller
July 03, 2017 | Ridgewood, NJ
15 years and it hurts like it was just yesterday. He made everyone better just being with him. Bruce was one of those guys who everyone admired, trusted and wanted to be like. I think about him often.
Matt O'Neill
September 10, 2016 | Signal Mountain, TN
It breaks my heart for the Simmons family still to this day. God Bless.
Judy Tomlinson
September 11, 2013 | Atlanta, GA