Anthony Francis Simmons, 89, passed away January 22, 2024, in Rochester, NY.
Tony was predeceased by his wife of 57 years, Elizabeth (Gordon) and is survived by his sons Stephen (Martha) and Douglas (Karrie) and one grandson (Ryan).
Tony was born July 19, 1934 in Hackney, London, England. At 16, he entered a 5-year apprenticeship in toolmaking, served 2 years in the Royal Air Force, and later attended additional training for toolmaking and mechanical engineering.
While in the hospital recovering from a motorcycle accident, he met his future wife, Betty, who was his nurse. They married in 1960, and moved from London to the Rochester area, where they raised their sons.
Throughout his career, Tony worked at Hoover, Ltd. and Liberty Tool & Die among others, and retired after 25 years at Hansford Manufacturing in Rochester.
Tony loved fishing, biking, swimming, and The Arsenal. Go Gunners!
Calling hours will be Saturday, February 17, 11:30 -1:30 at The Richard H. Keenan Funeral Home, VILLAGE location, 41 S. Main St., Fairport.
In lieu of flowers, please consider a donation to a charity of your choice.
Comments
6 responses to “Simmons, Anthony Francis”
Tony was the last Simmons of his generation and indeed the last of a kind.
He will be greatly missed by us all
Tony was my brother-in-law. I first met him in 1960 after he married my much beloved sister Betty. I went over to visit them in Stoke Newington where he and Betty were living with Tony’s mother in a splendid Victorian terraced house. While Tony’s father had been an exceptional clockmaker, Tony growing up in the east end of London had earned his pocket money boxing in the local alehouses. He wasn’t the biggest but he was tough.
His elder brother was ‘union organized’ for Hoover and secured an apprenticeship in toolmaking for Tony. He didn’t just do well, he did brilliantly.
He met Betty when in hospital after the motor bike accident with his brother. When he was due to be discharged, he asked Betty to wash his hair and while she was doing so, he asked her out and the rest is history.
When met him in London in 1960, I was fourteen years old and immediately he became a friend- a life-long friend. While I never took him on at boxing, I did respond to his swimming challenge and earned some respect by beating him over a few lengths of the pool.
Tony was a brilliant engineer and hugely successful manager of people. He was hands-on leading Hanford to success in designing, building, and delivering complicated, multi station automated production line systems for Kodak, General Motors and many others.
I introduced him and his sons to fishing on Clare Island in 1980 and it became a passion for life. I attended three soccer world cups with Tony in New Jersey, Paris and Rome in 1990 where we listened live to the first performance of the Three Tenors.
Tony’s best friend and the love of his life was Betty. He was an inspiration and friend of mine.
Donald
My heart is broken for you Stephen and Doug. I loved your father and treasured our friendship. He was always such a bright spot in my life and we always celebrated our birthdays together. I will be out of town for the services but will be thinking of you. He will be greatly missed. Kelly
Stephen, Martha, and Ryan. We are so sorry for your loss. I knew Tony from the JCC – he loved the cycling classes. He was always pleasant with a good sense of humor.
Dear Steven and Doug, I was sad to hear about Uncle Tony’s death. I was glad to have met up with him in his latter years, he was exactly as I remembered him in his younger days. At Hoover where I was also an Apprentice 14 years later than him, he was also remembered with affection and for his larger than life character. Anyway RIP Uncle Tone. Thinking of you all at this difficult time, love and best wishes, his namesake Tony Simmons
If your in a technical business and your not an educated technical person, you better find an accomplished person to fill that role. That was the beginning of a 50 year partnership between Tony Simmons and myself. Tony was a great friend and very trusted ally at HMC. He was an extremely talented machinist, designer and manager of hundreds of skilled young men and women who helped us grow and succeed in the very challenging world of factory automation and machine tool products. Tony never shied away from a technical challenge. However, I believe his his best talent and most lasting legacy was educating and developing young talented minds to understand and succeed in a fast changing and demanding world. That is evidenced by the success of many employees who learned from Tony and later were very successful in their own businesses.
Tony and I traveled the world together. We laughed, learned and sometimes misbehaved together. I had the great privilege of having Betty in my life as well. That was a special treat. She always had us figured out.
My Dad, my family and I all thank Tony and his family for the devotion and steadfast leadership at HMC and in our lives. GO Arsenal.