Eileen Joyce Simmons, 99, peacefully danced into heaven on August 10, 2023, in Hudson, WI, with her proud sons by her side.  

Eileen Simmons was born on July 31, 1924 in Waseca, MN, to Arthur and Olga Alland. Her parents were well established in the Waseca community and lived there until the sudden death of her father. Eileen and her mother then moved to Minneapolis for new opportunities, but still returned to their favorite stomping grounds including a cabin on Clear Lake  and frequented the now extinct King’s Corner for a cold beverage.  

Eileen graduated from Minneapolis Central High School. After high school she had many fun adventures with her girlfriends. This is when she met a man named Ken.  True to Eileen’s witty personality, instead of providing Ken with her real name, she told him her name was Mickey. He proceeded to call her Mickey for years to come.  They eloped on November 22, 1947, and  Eileen then changed her last name from Alland to Simmons.

With their unity they had two sons, Gary Kenneth and Dale Glenn Simmons. They resided most of their lives in Minneapolis, MN, with a short time in California where many of Ken’s family had moved to. They both ended up living in Hudson, WI for the last fragment of their lives. 

Eileen was a diligent and successful homemaker until her sons ventured out on their own. This began her next chapter working at Washburn Center for Children as the admission secretary. There she was loved and admired by all of her co-workers and was the comforting voice to many when reaching out to Washburn for help in a time of need.   She worked there for many years before joining her sons at their company, Creative Labs, until her retirement. At Creative, Eileen was loved and revered as the most successful collector they’ve ever had. She was always known as a fashionable and sharp dresser and was not thrilled when the concept “Casual Friday” was born. 

Eileen was well known for her sly and quick wit and her sense of style, ensuring she was always well dressed and put together. She loved landscaping and she has many perennial gardens flourishing beautifully today. She enjoyed traveling often and dancing for hours. She was a dedicated loyal mother to her sons and worked for them until dementia started to rear its ugly head. She was a faithful grandma and attended as many family and sporting events as possible, even travelling hours to participate in her extended family’s events. She was known to bake chocolate chip cookies while playing a good card game.  Her spirit and the legendary twinkle in her eye will be missed immensely. 

Eileen is survived by her children Gary (Beverly) Simmons and Dale (Melissa) Simmons; grandchildren Jodi (Steve) Halvorsen, Alyssa (Louis) Heim, Brett (Jamie) Simmons, Alex Simmons, Tanner Simmons, and Marissa Simmons; great grandchildren Anna, Reese, Quinton, Mariah, Maxwell & Griffin; step grandchildren Cole (Elissa) Erickson and Jake (Stephanie) Erickson; step great grandchildren Celia, Colette, Oliver, Emery, and Jacoby. 

 Eileen is preceded in death by her parents Arthur and Olga, as well as her partner-in-crime, ex-husband Kenneth Simmons. 

 The visitation for Eileen will be held on Wednesday, August 16, 2023 at O’Connell Family Funeral Home in Hudson, WI from 11-1pm with a service at 1pm  

 Burial: North Waseca Lutheran Church, Waseca, MN. 

 Memorial donations can be made in Eileen’s name to Washburn Center for Children.