Judith Joann Simmons

~Life Reflections~

In the 30's Harold Bennett and Blanche Marie Frost met while attending Avery Institute in Charleston, SC and they fell in love. Upon graduation in 1939 the young couple eloped and begin their lives in Charleston SC where their two children were born. "Judy" the first child was born on March 25, 1941 and Arnold two years later.

Harold enlisted in the army during World War II and served in Europe. After his discharge he moved the family to New York City and settled in the borough of Manhattan. The young family met another young family from SC, Leon and Martha Gantt who had children the same age as Judy and Arnold. Martha and Blanche became lifelong friends and their daughters were BFFs like their mothers.

Judy and Arnold attended PS 46 in Manhattan. Arnold would be the first to return to SC to attend high school and Judy would follow. They lived with their maternal grandparents. Walter (Pops) and Alice (Sweet Momma) Frost. She graduated from Berkeley Training High School with the class of 1960.

She would return to New York and begin a career as a city employee and retired from City Hospital Supplies as an Administration Assistant in 2001. Arnold was instrumental in encouraging her to return to Moncks Corner, where she remained for the remaining of her years.

Judy met Kessler Simmons while in SC and would marry him in NY. They enjoyed a short life together. No children were born in this union. However, she was often lovely reminded that she thought Connie and Danny were her kids.

Judy was an avid crossword puzzle solver, and (something she inherited from her mother), she loved playing games, reading, especially the Consumer Report because she was a "Shopaholic" and was a great customer of HSN and QVC. She was an enthusiastic Teddy Bear collector. A great packer and fixer of gadgets, (something she inherited from her father). She was an excellent conversationalist and if you were ever in her presence, she had a short story from memory lane to share with you.

Eleanor, Judy's BFF, she said was a true friend and she would never tell a secret or disclose something told her in confidence. She made many friends over the years who she treated with great esteem. She never forgot your birthday or a special occasion in your life. You would receive a gift or a card from her, and she never forgot your telephone number.

When her health begin to fail, Arnold and Bunnie along with her adopted kids. Connie, Danny, and Shaheena (Danny's wife) became her main caregivers, shoppers, confidants, and Erik and Finisha would assist as she began to have a need for more special assistants.

On June 23, 2020, Judy gave up the spirit and entered the realm of eternity. Those who preceded her in death are her husband, Kessler Simmons, parents, Harold and Blanche Bennett, maternal grandparents, Philip and Edna Bennett, and a special aunt, Violet Bennett. She leaves her brother, Arnold (Harriett Bunnie) Bennett, nieces, Constance (Leo) Rivers, and Finisha Bennett, her nephews, Nicholas "Danny" (Shaheena) Bennett, Erik Arnold Bennett of Moncks Corner, SC; a best friend Eleanor Gantt Whitfield of Fayetteville, NC, several grandnephews and grandnieces, her cousin Tony Bennett of NY, Brenda Bennett Williams of Tampa, FL and Fredrick Bennett of Washington, DC. A host of of cousins of Stanley Reid descendants and many friends.

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