Mary Simmons

Mary Lee Hickman Simmons of Bladenboro passed away on Friday, November 10th, 2017. She was preceded in death by her parents Waitus Hickman Sr. and Artie Brisson Hickman, also by brothers Wade Hickman and Roger Hickman and sisters Doris Sherrill, Virginia Sawyer and Josephine Carlisle. Her husband, Lawson P. Simmons Sr. and son Lawson P. Simmons Jr. (Pete), also preceded her in death. Mrs. Simmons worked briefly outside the home but was primarily a homemaker and loving wife, mother, mother-in-law, grandmother and great-grandmother to her husband and four sons as well as to her daughters-in-law, grandchildren and great-grandchildren. She was a member of Hickory Grove Baptist Church.

Her greatest legacy will be her kindness to everyone she met. To be her friend was an assurance of a friend for life and she dearly loved her family, extended family and friends. Her other enduring legacy will be her ability to bake the most delicious thin layer chocolate, lemon supreme, carrot and red velvet cakes, which were treasured delicacies throughout the Bladenboro area.

Mrs. Simmons is survived by brothers Freddie Hickman of Bladenboro and Waitus Hickman, Jr. of Wilmington and sisters Eva King and Carol Davis, both of Bladenboro. She is also survived by sons Steve Simmons and wife Carole, Bobby Simmons and Hattie, Larry Simmons and wife Ava, grandchildren David Simmons, Britton Simmons, Audrey Roberts and husband Brad, Victoria Simmons and Allen and by great-grandchildren Karlee Roberts, Martha Ryan Simmons, Henry Lawson Simmons and Chloe Grace Thompson.

The family will receive friends on Saturday November 11, 2017 from 6:00 PM until 8:00 PM at Bladen Gaskins Funeral Home in Elizabethtown, NC. The funeral service will be on Sunday November 12, 2017 at 3:00 PM at Hickory Grove Baptist Church in Bladenboro, NC. The funeral service will be performed by the Reverend Bruce Miller, Pastor of Hickory Grove Baptist Church and the Reverend Charles Hester, Pastor of First Baptist Church of Bladenboro. Burial will follow in the Hickory Grove Baptist Church cemetery.