Mary Emma Simmons dies at 92
By Staff Reports
Published in News on March 12, 2017 1:45 AM
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Mary Emma Simmons
Mary Emma Simmons, a Wayne County businesswoman and civic leader, died Friday.
She was 92.
Mrs. Simmons was a pioneer in the construction industry. Following the death of her husband, Steve, in 1983, she took over their building firm, D.S. Simmons Inc., and led it for years, becoming one of the few women construction company owners in the state.
Mrs. Simmons gave Bill Thering his very first job when he got out of the military in 1979, and he worked for her for more than 12 years.
"She was one of the sweetest people I ever met," Thering said Saturday. "She was always looking out for the manpower that worked for her. She was always just everybody's mother to the young superintendents who were coming into the construction industry. Most people called her Ma, including me."
He said Mrs. Simmons would also help anybody in the company who needed a little extra money to get by.
Thering recalls that on Fridays when people would sometimes leave work early, Mrs. Simmons would call them into her office before they left.
"She would reach into her drawer and hand them a hundred dollar bill, something she said her father had taught her to do," Thering said. "She would tell them it was just to have fun with, not to pay bills with or anything like that, just to have a nice weekend with. And 25 or 30 years ago, $100 went a lot further than it does today."
A native of Wayne County, Mrs. Simmons served on a number of local civic boards, including the Downtown Goldsboro Development Corp., United Way of Wayne County, the Wayside Fellowship Home, the county Economic Development Commission, Crime Stoppers, the Family YMCA and the Wayne County Chamber of Commerce, where she was a member of the Military Affairs Committee.
In 1985 she was named Boss Of The Year by the American Business Women's Association of Wayne County.