- Date Of Birth: August 31, 1953
- Date Of Death: June 21, 2017
- State: Colorado
Judy Marlene Simmons (Kossina) Born 1953 in Belleville, IL, the second child to Lawrence & Bernice Kossina. She grew up in Millstadt, IL with her older brother Jay, and welcomed a baby sister, June. After graduating Belleville West High School, class of 1971, she headed to the University of Illinois in Champaign to study Education and Journalism. She joined the U.S.O. and worked at Chanute AFB near Rantoul, IL where she met Senior Airman Dan Simmons when he asked for change for a dollar. Judy only gave him 75 cents back and so began a great love affair as he spent the next 43 years trying to get his last quarter back. Though their wedding was 7/5/75, they were officially married on Halloween in 1974. Life with the Air Force took them to Cheyenne, WY where they began their married life together. In 1978, they welcomed their first born, Joshua Daniel. Not long after, job opportunities brought them to Denver, CO where Judy began working for Mountain Bell. She continued working there through the company’s many name changes (US West, Qwest, Century Link) and three more children, Charles Christopher in 1982, Katherine Ann in 1989, and Michael Lawrence in 1991, she worked there until her cancer diagnosis in early June 2016.
