Nancy Simmons’ road to the Unity choir began at the age of 7 in a little New Jersey town named Chews Landing where she joined the children’s choir at the local Methodist church. Music was in her genes. Her father and two uncles played guitar, her grandmother played piano and her mother and many relatives all sang.
Nancy played viola in the school orchestra, sang in the choir and later in a woman’s club quartet. When cousins of her husband Ted, who came from a rich cultural Russian/Ukrainian background, started a Balalaika Orchestra, the couple ordered instruments from Leningrad for them, their 10-year-old son and fellow musicians. Their popular group of 72 musicians toured the upper east coast, appeared on the Mike Douglas show and cut their first record in 1972. They performed as the pre-entertainment for the first U.S. appearances of the Bolshoi Ballet and the world renowned “Osipov” Russian Balalaika orchestra and at the famous Philadelphia Academy of Music.
As a child, Nancy longed for warm weather. Always colder than her six siblings, she would hug the chimney, playing outdoors in the winter. When she heard of a place called Florida, where it was always warm, she thought “someday I will go there and never be cold.” She was thrilled when that opportunity came. The Simmons have owned Able Medical Aids, serving home convalescing patients in Largo, for 38 years. Their son and daughter graduated from Florida high schools and colleges, and two granddaughters attend Florida colleges.
Nancy’s spiritual growth was fostered by tragedy. Her 17-year-old cousin and his girlfriend committed suicide in protest of the Viet Nam war. “I cannot remember anyone in our family as church goers, and, consequently, no one seemed to know what to do,” Nancy recalls. She began reading all the spiritual books she could find, took Transcendental Meditation classes, became a Rosicrucian, sent kids to a Quaker school and became active in an Episcopal church, where she sang in the choir for 19 years. But, something was missing, and she took flight to discover new forms of thought, wandering from church to women’s earth based circles, retreats and temples, eventually becoming ordained as a metaphysical minister.
Then, one Sunday, she made a right turn into the UCC parking lot. “The live and let live acceptance of many types of people and religious backgrounds, along with the fun and uplifting energy was great,” she says. “ Leddy reminded me of me, but more talkative with enlightening things to say. Within a year, I joined the choir and have always felt at home since that time.”
Nancy, who serves on the board of Advocare Trust, has, for years, worked tirelessly on behalf of the developmentally disabled. In 1970, her 12-year-old sister developed encephalitis. Rising fever destroyed her memory. At age 20, a head-on collision with a tree produced uncontrollable seizures. In 1990, Connie came to live with Nancy, who shared her care with another sister. On July 13, Connie made her transition.