Nix Wright Simons

Nix Wright Simons passed away peacefully on August 20, 2021. Simons was born in Mt. Vernon, Texas on October 13, 1934 to the late Joseph Orval Simons and Agaree Davis Simons. He grew up in the Union community, south of Mt Vernon, and attended Mt Vernon schools. Raised one of six children on a working farm in the Great Depression, he learned early the necessity and benefits of a hard day’s work. Simons played football under the beloved Catfish Smith at Mt. Vernon High School, and was an active member of the brotherhood of men who played under Coach Smith and formed an athletic scholarship fund in his name. He went on to graduate from Mt. Vernon High School in 1953, then studied at Paris Junior College and East Texas State College, before eventually running out of money and getting a job as a welder on a pipeline construction project that took him to the East Coast and back. In 1957, Simons married Mary Jo Wilson, a Winnsboro native, and they settled in Tyler, where he was first employed by Floyd West & Company, a large insurance agency with offices in Dallas, Tyler and El Paso. The company then relocated the young family to El Paso, where he served as an insurance adjustor for Floyd West for a few years. In 1966, he was offered a partnership at Craddock & Company insurance agency in Winnsboro, where he worked several years before eventually buying the agency and renaming it Simons & Company Insurance. Over the next decades Simons served as a civic leader in Winnsboro. He served two separate terms on the Winnsboro City Council in the early 1970s and early 1990’s. In 1970 he was the founding Board President of Cypress Creek Country Club and led the funding and construction of the club. He was an active member of the Rotary Club of Winnsboro for decades and was honored as a Paul Harris Fellow by the organization. He was a member of Walnut Street Baptist Church. On August 12, 1988, Simons married Sarah Ann Henry, and they combined their children and grandchildren into a large, diverse extended family who mourn his passing today and will celebrate his life and legacy forever. “Pop”, as he was known, spent his later years counting his cows, tending his garden, visiting the hunting lease, and being blessed by the laughter and love of children. His family will remember him as warm, kind, funny, generous, stubborn, handsome, brave, and above all, loving. He is survived by his wife of 33 years, Sarah Henry Simons, children David Simons and spouse Susan of Winnsboro, Scott Simons and spouse Paul Scott of Austin, Cheryl Downs of Coppell, Ronna Schmidgall and husband Terry of Lone Oak, Scott Andrews and spouse Kelly of Winnsboro, Erin Andrews of Dallas, ten grandchildren and eight great-grandchildren. In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations to the Walnut Street Baptist Church of Winnsboro youth program.