William Mathew "Mick" Simmons

WILLIAM MATHEW "MICK" SIMMONS Graveside services for Cortez resident William Mathew "Mick" Simmons will be held at 2 p.m. on Friday, December 9 at Summit Ridge Cemetery. Visitation has been scheduled for Thursday afternoon from 4 to 6 p.m. at Ertel Memorial Chapel. Mick was born March 15, 1937 in Longmont, Colo. the son of Claude and Maydne (Phipps) Simmons. He passed away on Friday, December 2, 2011 at Southwest Memorial Hospital at the age of 74. Mick served his country in the United States Army during the Korean War. He was a journeyman millwright instructor for millwright education at Oregon State University and the University of Oregon. Mick was known and loved as a son, husband, father, grandfather and great-grandfather, but always Mr. Papa. On November 14, 1993 Mick married Kathie Burkhart and the couple shared 19 years of marriage this time. Surviving Mick are his wife, Kathie Burkhart; his children, Lisa Simmons, Diana Demarco, and Julie Ferguson; his step-children, Vickie Garcia, Melissa Lopez, Lisa Krewetzki; numerous grandchildren and great-grandchildren; by his siblings, "Oz" Simmons, Gerald Simmons, Donald Simmons, Robert Simmons, Coletta (Lake) Bishop, and Ina Joe Shoestead; and by numerous nieces and nephews. Mick was preceded in death by his parents, Claude and Maydne Simmons; and his brothers, Ray Simmons and Howard Simmons.