ELIZABETHTON - George Allen Simmons, age 84, of Elizabethton, Tennessee went home to be with his Lord and his loving wife on Monday, March 15, 2021 from his residence. In addition to his parents, he was preceded in death by his wife of 39 years, Patricia Louise Samples Simmons in 2019. George was born in Headwaters, Virginia, the first child of Clyde and Mary Evelyn Simmons. The family ran a sawmill, where George began working at age 10. George attended Berea College in Kentucky, majoring in education. It was at Berea that he met Margaret De Hart, who he married. The couple moved to Lorain, where George became an elementary school teacher. He completed his Masterâs Degree in education at Kent State University. The couple then moved to Chicago, where he worked in educational publishing. He worked on a series of books for young readers written in phonetics and Space Age Spelling, which came complete with a set of puppets.