Fred Perry Simmons, Jr, 80, passed away peacefully on Tuesday, January 7, 2025, at his home in Chattanooga, Tennessee. He was born in Grenada, Mississippi on September 25, 1944, to the late Fred Perry Simmons, Sr and Clotee McDonald Simmons.
Fred was a 1963 graduate of Memphis Tech High School where he excelled in athletics as a member of the basketball and baseball teams. He attended the College of the Ozarks on basketball and baseball scholarships until he rode a horse through the library and tried to check out a book and was asked to leave. He decided to give Holmes Junior College a try and from there he joined the United States Army and served as a drill sergeant while stationed at Fort Knox. After being honorably discharged, he finished his college years on the G. I. Bill at Western Kentucky University. There he made many life-long friends, several of them being the brothers of Alpha Tau Omega fraternity. He began his working career at Louisville Cement and then as co-owner of Pro Group, Inc., with Arnold Palmer. He could often be found on or around a golf course giving lessons and spending time with the players. Fred was the early developer of a driver made from the wood of a persimmon tree called Palmer Peerless. This helped him to hit golf balls over the highway at Golf Land in Owensboro and he even hit a golf ball over one of the widest parts of the Tennessee River near Chattanooga. While at Pro Group, he helped design many golf courses and enjoyed golf adventures that carried him all over the world.
He was an avid reader and lover of books that filled his clever mind with facts and information, some useful and others not. Fred enjoyed music of all genres and even produced some records. His favorite thing to find in any town that he went was a good place to eat and an off the path bookstore or music store. Perhaps this knowledge helped him produce a documentary on the life of Ben Hogan, “A Hard Case from Texas.” He never met a stranger and could talk to anyone about almost anything in any given situation. He always wanted to know where someone was from. This allowed him to have a friend almost anywhere and when he knew you were traveling, he would always say, “I have a good friend there. Call ‘em if you need anything. Just tell them you know me, and they’ll take care of you.”
In addition to his parents, Fred was preceded in death by his son, Perry Chadwick Simmons; and his favorite grandson, Adam Paul Schrock.
Survivors include his daughter and son-in-law, Allison and Bryan Schrock of Owensboro, Kentucky; daughter-in-law, Cindy Simmons of Birmingham, Alabama; granddaughters, Abigail Schrock, Ann Marie Simmons and Caroline Simmons; a sister, Teresa Owen of Olive Branch, Mississippi; a brother and sister-in-law, Andy and Ann Simmons of Birmingham, Alabama; a niece and her husband, Christina and Brent Johnson of Hernando, Mississippi; the mother of his children, Vivian Simmons Cripps of Owensboro, Kentucky; and a special friend Brad Walker who helped care for Fred during the final months in his earthly tent.
To honor his memory, we simply ask you to spend time with some friends at a golf course, around the table enjoying some lean BBQ brisket, or just sitting and talking about some random story and memory of Fred. He would like that he made you smile and feel loved one more time.