Dr. Ray L. Simmons II, M.D. Dr. Ray L. Simmons II, MD, 78, died Sept. 26, 2007, at his home surrounded by his loving family. Dr. Simmons was born Aug. 4, 1929, in Big Spring, Texas to Pauline Bruner Simmons and Ray L. Simmons. His family moved to Lubbock, Texas where he graduated from Lubbock High School. He was involved in several extracurricular activities holding a variety of offices and serving as student body president in 1946. He received the American Legion Citizenship Award. He attended two years of college at Texas Tech University before enrolling in the University of Texas at Austin and graduating with a BA in 1951. He attended the University of Texas Medical Branch in Galveston, from 1952 to 1956 and had received a partial scholarship from Coca-Cola. In medical school he served as senior class president. Dr. Simmons interned at Confederate Memorial Medical Center, Shreveport, La. after marrying the former Mary Evelyn Corley in 1955. He satisfied the two-year medical service requirement in the era after the Korean War by serving as a medical officer in the United States Public Health Service in Winslow, Arizona. In his second year of service, he was promoted to Medical Officer in Charge at the Winslow Indian Hospital. Dr. Simmons’ dedication to serving others was significantly influenced during this time of caring for the impoverished Navajos in northern Arizona. It was also then that he developed a deep appreciation and love of American Indians, their experiences and culture. In 1959, he joined Dr. Earle B. Griffey in the family practice of medicine in Brownsville, Texas. He delivered babies and cared for families for nine years. In addition, he volunteered regularly in the Well Baby section of the City and County Health Clinic of Brownsville for indigent patients. Throughout his nine years of family practice, he served as Chief of Staff at Brownsville Mercy Hospital for three terms and was an active member of the Cameron-Willacy County Medical Society serving in a variety of director positions including president in 1981. In 1963, he helped organize the Planned Parenthood Clinic and served as its first medical director. In 1964, he and a group of medical colleagues organized the Oral Polio Vaccine Campaign of which he served as co-chairman and treasurer. He also served as a United Way volunteer in the medical community. He was a member of the Texas Medical Association and the American Medical Association for over 50 years. In the late 1960’s, Dr. Simmons returned to the University of Texas Medical Branch to complete a four-year residency in orthopaedics. He served as Chief Resident at Children’s Hospital from 1970 to 1972. His residency included fellowships at the Shrine Burns Institute and the United Cerebral Palsy Institute. He instructed nursing students and Emergency Medical Service Technicians pro bono at the University. He was certified by the American Board of Orthopaedic Surgery, and began his private practice in Brownsville which he continued until his semi-retirement in 1990. He was inducted as a fellow in the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgery as well as the American College of Surgeons. He was a member of the Texas Orthopaedic Association, the Western Orthopaedic Association, and the American Academy of Cerebral Palsy. He was a founding member of the Eggers Surgical Society. Upon Dr. Simmons’ return to Brownsville in 1972, he became the Volunteer Medical Director of Brownsville Society for Crippled Children, now the Moody Clinic. For thirty-five years he practiced at the clinic as its director, physician and surgeon treating countless indigent children in need until the time of his death. As an orthopaedic surgeon, he also was affiliated with Valley Regional Medical Center. Dr. Simmons was recognized on numerous occasions for his service and dedication as a physician and his contributions to the community. He received the Brownsville Medical Center Physician of the Year award in 1976, 1979, 1983 and 1984. In addition, he was named Brownsville Community Practitioner of the year in 1983; received the Rotary Club Community Service Award for 1989-1990; and was named the 1990 Volunteer of the Year for Cameron County by the Volunteer Resource Center of Cameron and Hidalgo Counties. Dr. Simmons was appointed in 1990 by President George Bush as the 154th Daily Point of Light for his continued charitable work and service to others through the Brownsville Society Crippled Children Clinic. In addition, he was recognized for his work organizing and directing the Sports Medicine Program within the Brownsville Independent School District in the early 1970’s through the 1980’s; founding the Scoliosis Screening Program in the Brownsville School District and providing follow up medical evaluations for students; and establishing a specialized clinic for children with Spina Bifida in 1989. To support this effort, he personally recruited specialists in urology, neurology, social work, orthotics and nutrition to treat the whole child affected by this devastating disease. Also in 1990, the Brownsville City Commission honored Dr. Simmons’ “unselfish giving of self and his medical practice,” by proclaiming June 5, 1990 as Dr. Ray Simmons Day. Additionally, Dr. Simmons was honored by the Senate of the State of Texas on two separate occasions with proclamations of honor and appreciation. Most recently, Dr. Simmons was honored by the non-profit organization Down By The Border for his service to children with special needs. The organization will celebrate volunteerism by bestowing the Dr. Ray L. Simmons Volunteer Award on a deserving community volunteer annually. Dr. Simmons published articles in the Texas Medical Journal on the Idiopathic Hypercalcemia of Infancy; in the Southern Medical Journal on “Recurrent Post-traumatic Dislocation of the Hip in Children” and in the Journal of Zoo Animal Medicine on “Treatment of Fractures of the Calceneous in the Cheetah.” He had papers in progress on Cerebral Palsy-Misconceptions in Etiology and the Medico-legal Implications of Tuberculosis. Dr. Simmons was devoted to his wife of 52 years and his family. He and Mrs. Simmons served on the St. Joseph’s Academy Parents Advisory Board from 1972 through 1978. He made time to do most home and automobile repairs himself and found time to pursue his love of refurbishing and refinishing antique furniture, building grandfather clocks and historic ship models, carving and painting hunting duck decoys, and doing the daily crossword puzzle. He was a voracious reader enjoying history and biographies and had a particular interest in the Civil War. His love of the American Indian culture was best seen through a significant collection of Navajo, Hopi, Pueblo and Apache Indian tribal art and artifacts that he began in the late 1950’s and placed on exhibit twice at the Brownsville Museum of Fine Art and the Historic Brownsville Museum. He fully enjoyed participating in Brownsville Fourth of July parades driving his trademark 1931 Model T pickup truck decorated in true patriotic style. He was preceded in death by his son, Robert Paine Simmons; his sister, Jo Ann Simmons and his parents. He is survived by his wife, Mary C. Simmons; and daughters, Marianne Simmons of Dripping Springs, Texas and Madelyn Simmons Marchessault (Ron) of Washington, DC. Visitations will be held from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. today, Friday, Sept. 28, 2007 at Darling-Mouser Funeral Home. The Rite of Christian Burial will be celebrated at 10 a.m. this Saturday, Sept. 29 at Sacred Heart Catholic Church. The burial service will be at Buena Vista Burial Park. Pall bearers will be Sam Pate, Dr. Charles Daniel, Dr. William McKinney, Jim Tipton, Sy Griffey and Bill Griffey. Honorary pall bearers are Dr. E. Burke Evans, Donald Ferguson, Marvin Conner, James Hiester and James McCain. In lieu of flowers, memorial donations in Dr. Simmons’ name may be made to the Moody Clinic, 1901 E. 22nd Street, Brownsville, Texas, 78521; the Gorgas Science Foundation, 510 E. St. Charles Street, Brownsville, Texas, 78520; or Down By The Border, 15 West Madison, Brownsville, Texas, 78520. Funeral arrangements have been entrusted to the care of Darling-Mouser Funeral Home, 945 Palm Blvd., Brownsville, Texas 78521 (956) 546-7111.