WRIGHTSBORO — Helena Swart Simmons died on March 6, 2022, in Wilmington, NC following a short illness. Helen, known as Ging to friends and family, was born on April 13, 1932, in Castle Hayne, NC and was a beloved daughter, sister, wife, mother, grandmother, great grandmother, aunt, cousin and friend.
She was preceded in death by her parents, Dirk and Danie Alma Southerland Swart, her sister Danie Squires, her brothers Dirk (Bunky) Swart, William (Butch) Swart and Charles Swart, and her son Walter Washington Simmons, III.
She is survived by her husband of 67 years, Walter Washington Simmons, Jr., her children, Susan Glass (Max) of Lyman SC, Theresa Jackson (Dan) of Castle Hayne, NC, Jeffrey Simmons (Jeffrey Widdison) of Castle Hayne, NC, eight grandchildren and seven great grandchildren, her brother Cornelius Swart of Raleigh, NC, sisters Alma Field of Fridley, MN and June Tilden of Atkinson, NC, together with a multitude of cousins, nieces and nephews, whom she loved dearly.
Ging attended Women’s College in Greensboro, NC, after graduating from New Hanover High School (Class of 1951) where she received a business degree. After graduation she returned to Wilmington and worked as a bookkeeper for Hall’s Drug Store and then later for Timmie Corporation. After marriage in 1955 she became a homemaker, raising her four children and managing the house. She would later work as a substitute schoolteacher in the New Hanover County School System and later managed the Post Office at Turner’s Drugstore in the Wrightsboro community.
She was a devoted member of Wrightsboro Baptist Church and loved her Sunday School Family.
A memorial service will be announced at a later date.
To honor the memory of Helena Swart Simmons, donations may be made to Lower Cape Fear LifeCare Hospice Care Center, 1414 Physicians Drive, Wilmington, NC 28401.
