1928 – April 27, 2024
Bobbie Cordella “Della” Simmons crossed the threshold on April 27, 2024. She was 95 years old. Della was born in Oklahoma in 1928 to Jasper and Alice Fletcher, one of nine siblings. Della was a young girl growing up during the Great Depression when the Dust Bowl famine forced her family to move to west Texas and later to California. In California, her parents worked as migrant farmers based in Tulare, and later labored in the San Francisco shipyards during WWII. One of Della’s passions was country & western music; her favorite was The Carter Family. At 14, she married honky tonk musician George Lewis. They moved to Dunsmuir in the 1940s where George played for the railroaders and loggers in town at bars like Judges and Motto’s, while Della cared for their three daughters. After George was killed by a drunk driver, Della remarried a logger and worked cleaning hotel rooms at Shasta Springs Resort, cooking for the loggers at camp in McCloud, and waiting tables at The Travelers Hotel and The House of Glass in Dunsmuir. Della loved Dunsmuir, especially the river and the tall beautiful trees, and said it was her favorite place on earth. She was an excellent cook, gardener, forager, hunter, fisherwoman, canner, baker, and even brewer! She became a grandmother at 34 years old and loved her grandchildren with all her heart, saying often that her happiest moments in life were when each of her grandkids were born. Della said she would like to be remembered for loving her kids and her grandkids, and for being loved by them.
Della was preceded in death by her parents, six sisters, and two brothers; husbands George Lewis, Adrie Putman, and Harold “Monk” Simmons; daughters Colleen Campbell and Carolyn Lomagno; grandson Thomas Campbell; and great-grandson Christopher Tyler. She is survived by daughter Nettie Lewis, grandchildren Rena Wade, Cara Duncan, Mari Thomas, Natalie Campbell, Denise Ford, James Campbell, Jr., Bobby Campbell, and Catherine Clother; great-grandchildren Shane Wade, Jessica Duncan, Nicholas Grajiola, Caitlyn Campbell, Benjamin Ford, Justin Ford, McKenzie Ford, Michaela Ford, Sydney Castleberry, Koti Campbell, Judah Campbell, Jonah Campbell, Macey Campbell, Phoenix Campbell, Finley Clother, Simon Clother, and Mirabelle Clother; and great-great grandchildren Brendan Wade, Ukiah Herrlin, and Thorin Herrlin.
