Obituary: Abbie “Jane” (Merriman) Simmons
Abbie “Jane” (Merriman) Simmons
GREENE – Abbie “Jane” (Merriman) Simmons was born on March 24, 1947, in Brunswick, Maine, to Martha Allen Merriman and Weston Merriman. Jane was a mischievous child on par with Dennis the Menace. Jane’s childhood offered no shortage of material—mostly the kind that made adults sigh first and laugh later.
Jane attended school in Freeport, Maine. She graduated from high school in 1965 and went on to attend Gorham State Teachers College before leaving to marry the love of her life, Willard H. Simmons. Jane and Willard, known as Butch, were married on Jan. 22, 1966. As a member of the United States Air Force, Butch and Jane first moved to Anchorage, Alaska, where they welcomed their first son, David Weston Simmons. They were later stationed at Seymour Johnson Air Force Base in North Carolina. After Butch’s tour there ended, they returned to Maine for a few years and welcomed their second son, James Allen Simmons. With their growing family, Jane and Butch continued to move wherever the Air Force sent them: Travis Air Force Base in California in 1972, Charleston Air Force Base in South Carolina in 1974, Eielson Air Force Base in Alaska in 1977, East Meadow, NY, while Butch worked at JFK Airport in 1980, and finally back to Eielson in 1984. After more than 20 years of service, Butch retired from the Air Force, and they made North Pole, Alaska, their home.
Jane began her banking career in Alaska, starting as a teller and eventually retiring as Vice President of Mortgage Servicing. Butch began a second career as a corrections officer for the State of Alaska and retired in December 2006. Family lore says Butch warned Jane that if she did not retire soon, she would start receiving postcards from his travels. Jane retired in May 2007. In retirement, they stayed busy; Jane once remarked that she did not know how they had ever found time to work. They enjoyed traveling throughout Alaska in their motor home, spending August and September at their camp in Greene, Maine, and escaping the Alaskan cold with month-long winter trips to Hawaii. After 36 years in Alaska, Jane and Butch decided to return to Maine to be closer to family. They purchased land behind their camp and built their dream home.
Back in Maine, Jane and Butch happily reconnected with family and friends. Jane kept an immaculate home, where cobwebs knew better than to show themselves. Butch liked to joke that he could not watch a television program without the vacuum providing background music. Jane was also the perfect host; no guest escaped without food or a drink in hand. A polite “no, thank you” rarely stood a chance. Jane loved Christmas, too, decorating every corner of the house and cheerfully recruiting Butch as her holiday helper, whether he volunteered or not. Shopping was another favorite pastime of Jane’s, and “shop till we drop” could easily have been her motto. She usually had a willing companion by her side, but when she did not, Butch was enlisted—book in hand—and, naturally, enjoyed every minute of it.
In 2024, Jane was diagnosed with cancer. She faced the disease with determination and did everything she could to fight it. She passed away on August 17, 2026 surrounded by family in her final days.
Jane is survived by her loving husband of 60 years, Willard H. Simmons; her son, David Simmons, his wife, Julie, of Turner, Maine, and grandson, Jeffrey, of New York; and her youngest son, James Simmons, and his husband, Kenneth Gugliotti, of Philadelphia, Pa. She is also survived by her sister-in-law, whom she considered her sister, Sharon Clark, and her husband, Bruce Clark, of Greene, Maine, and their children, Patricia McDonald and her husband, Shawn and their children, and Jeff Clark and his wife, Karla, and their son, Blaine, for whom Jane had deep affection; her brother-in-law, John Lowe, of Freeport, Maine, and his children, Rachel Bigos-Lowe and her husband, Michael and their children, of Auburn, Maine, and Abigail Lowe and her wife, Gwen Rayner, of Arizona, and their children; and her sister-in-law, Cindy Mendieta, of Brunswick, Maine. Jane was predeceased by her sister, Vicki Lowe, of Freeport, Maine.
A celebration of life will take place at their family home in Greene, Maine on Saturday Sept. 26 at 12 p.m.
Memories and condolences can be shared at http://www.brackettfh.com.
In lieu of flowers, please consider making a donation in Jane’s name to:
Tunnel to Towers
Foundation at t2t.org.
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