Cora Simmons

PORT ALLEGANY — Cora Jackson Simmons, 89, of Broad Street, passed away Saturday (July 20, 2019) in Buffalo (N.Y.) General Medical Center.

Born May 23, 1930, in Olean, N.Y., she was a daughter of Melburn L. and Vernice R. Knapp Jeffer. On Jan. 17, 1948, in Port Allegany, she married Raymond G. Jackson, who died Nov. 15, 1965. On Nov. 21, 1977, in Reading, she married Charles H. Simmons, who died July 11, 2002.

Cora had been employed with the Hamburg (Pa.) State School as a nurse’s aide. She spent most of her life as a homemaker and raising her children.

She was a member of the Chestnut Street Baptist Church, Port Allegany, where she was church treasurer. She also was a former Sunday school teacher at the former Evangelical United Brethren Church, Port Allegany. She was a member of the Odin Grange, former member of the Royal Neighbors of America, and she enjoyed playing crossword puzzles.

Surviving are a son, Kirk A. Jackson of Reading; three daughters, Linda R. (Charles) Croop and Rhonda L. Elliott, both of Port Allegany, and Terry E. (Ned) Hennigan of Cedar City, Utah; a stepson, Roy C. (Eve) Simmons of Marietta, Ga.; 13 grandchildren; 19 great-grandchildren; a brother, Gary W. (Linda) Jeffers of Austin; a sister, Nila N. (Robert) Mericle of Eden, N.C.; and several nieces and nephews.

She was preceded in death by her parents; husbands, Raymond and Charles; a grandson, Damen Moses; a great-grandson, Ty Moses; a stepson, Mark Simmons; a brother, Dale M. Jeffer; and three sisters, Vivian Crumrine, Althea Woolerton, and Carole Jeffer.

Friends will be received from 2-4 and 6-8 p.m. Tuesday in the Switzer Funeral Home, Port Allegany, where a funeral service will be held at 11 a.m. Wednesday with the Rev. Douglas Cameron, pastor of the Chestnut Street Baptist Church, officiating. Burial will be in Grimes Cemetery, Port Allegany.

Memorials can be made to the Chestnut Street Baptist Church.

Condolences can be made at www.switzerfuneralhome.com.