CLEVELAND, Tenn. — John Simmons was remembered Tuesday as a champion of Tennessee’s military veterans.
Mr. Simmons died last summer just before he could begin serving as chairman of the Tennessee State Veterans Home Board. He was an advocate for veterans’ benefits, often attending Nashville and Washington, D.C., meetings and serving with a variety of local boards and veterans groups.
On Tuesday, he was recognized as a driving force behind continuing efforts to bring a state veterans nursing home to Bradley County.
Tennessee Veterans Affairs Commissioner John Keys, representing Gov. Phil Bredesen, and Bob Tuke, current state veterans homes board chairman, as well as other state veterans and local political officials, more than filled a Mountain View Inn meeting room to share their memories.
“You are bound to have a veterans nursing home here in Bradley County eventually and that will be largely because of John’s work,” Mr. Tuke said.