Nancy Ann Simmons
Paul Herbert Simmons 1925-1999 – my father
My father, Paul Herbert
Simmons, was born on January 29, 1925, and his school days would have started
in September 1930. At that time, he lived with his parents, Walter and June
Simmons, in Dearborn, Michigan as his father worked at the Ford Motor Company.
Unfortunately, on February 24, 1931, his father, Walter Raymond Simmons, died
of pneumonia at the age of 28 years, 8 months and 20 days. After his father's
death, he lived with his paternal grandparents, Andrew and Elspeth Simmons in
Wapella, Illinois where his grandfather was a Methodist minister. His mother
and older brother, Wallace, moved to Henning Illinois to live with his mother's
parents, Ernest and June Putman. Paul started school at Wapella Grade School
while living with his grandparents. Sometime in the summer of 1932, Paul moved
to Henning to join his mother and brother.
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| Wapella Grade School - Wapella, Illinois Paul is fourth child from right in front row picture taken about 1932 |
In the fall of 1932, Paul
started school at Henning Grade School, Vermilion County Public Schools. He
attended Henning for the next two years. His 3rd grade report card graded
spelling, reading, penmanship, drawing, arithmetic, language, and geography. At
the end of the year, he received a 100% in arithmetic for his highest mark and
85% in drawing for his lowest mark. The card shows his mother signing his
report card as June Simmons but the final signature was his grandmother's, Mrs.
Cora Putman.
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| Henning Grade School - Henning Illinois Paul's 3rd-Grade Report Card |
After his mother remarried,
Elvis Jackson Merritt, on April 1, 1934, he moved to Detroit, Michigan where he
attended Mayberry Elementary for 4th - 6th grades. His
4th grade report card did not evaluate him with percentages but with a number
system with 1 being excellent and 5 unsatisfactory. In his final report for 4th
grade he received all ones for reading, spelling, arithmetic, geography,
handwriting, health education, literature, manual arts, and music. His mother
now signed his report card as Mrs. J.E. Merritt.
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| Mayberry Elementary School - Detroit, Michigan Paul's 4th-Grade Report Card |
Paul attended Neinas
Intermediate School in Detroit for 7th and 8th grades. In 7th grade, his report
card shows classes in auditorium (speech), English, health, mathematics, social
science, music, and shop. In 8th grade, he took the same classes except he dropped
music and took mechanical drawing. What is interesting looking at his 7th-grade
report card is citizenship. It is graded in six areas: cooperation, courtesy,
leadership, reliability, self-control, and service. As you can see he did
superior in reliability and poor in self-control. It would be interesting to
know how they evaluated these areas of citizenship.
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| Neinas Intermediate School- Detroit, Michigan Paul's 7th-Grade Report Card |
In 1939 Paul attended
Western High School in Detroit. For the next four years, he had classes in
English, math, and history. He also took general shop, shop math, and machine
shop. He took gym classes in 9th and 10th grade. He tried Latin but dropped it
after one semester. I never knew he took Latin and wish he would have warned
me, I wouldn't have taken Latin! In his senior year, he took geometry, aviation,
and English.
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| Western High School - Detroit, Michigan Paul's 10th-Grade Report Card |
Paul was given a paper
route at age 12 by his stepfather to earn money to buy his clothes and save. Because
he worked after school and also attended a very large high school, he did not
participate in extra-curricular sports.
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| Palestine Masonic Lodge - DeMolay Softball Team Paul back row first one from the left, his brother, Wally, back row third from the right |
He did play softball on
his DeMolay softball team with his brother. DeMolay is the male youth
organization of the Masons. He also played basketball with his neighborhood
friends at the YMCA. By January 1942 when Paul graduated from high school many
of his friends had already dropped out of school and enlisted in military
service.
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| Basketball Team Paul standing on far right side, best friend Bob Buck holding the ball |
He was in the
eighty-eighth graduating class of Western High School and graduated Tuesday
morning, January 26, 1943, at half past ten o'clock. There were 160 in his
graduation class. Three days later Paul turned 18 years old and received his
draft notice. The majority of the boys graduating were inducted into military
service in the next few months.
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| Paul's High School Graduation - January 26, 1943 Western High School - Detroit, Michigan |
My father never spoke much
about school. We knew he graduated from high school and after the war attended
classes at Wayne State University in Detroit for a short time. After he married
my mother he worked as a produce manager for a large retail grocery chain. Most
of the stories he shared about his school days were about his friends, better known
as the Porter Street Gang who played ball with him.
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