November 29, 2023
In Loving Memory ~
Susan was born in the “Forest of Dean” Gloucestershire in 1947 to Kate and Alexander Davis. At the age of fourteen, she met Christopher Simmonds and they married when she was nineteen years old.
In 1968, she and Christopher emigrated to Canada with nothing more than a few suitcases and started their new life. Persistence, tenacity and being kindhearted helped Sue and Chris find work and find a home in Port Moody, then New Westminster.
Sue worked at Cascades Electronics, assembling telephone circuit boards for B.C. Tel. Eventually their hard work paid off, and they bought their first house in Surrey, B.C. They welcomed daughters Katie in 1971 and Sian in 1973.
In 1976 they purchased five acres in Langley and eventually built a house that Sue and Chris put their hearts into. That house was more than a building; It was a loving home that they created together.
Sue had a great eye for interior design and put those talents to work reupholstering and refinishing furniture and decorating their home beautifully. But most importantly, they filled it with love.
Sue was a devoted mom who adored her girls and made them feel loved, safe, and secure. Not only did she care deeply for her daughters, but her whole family. Family and faith were paramount. Every Sunday was spent at St. Oswald’s singing in the choir and then a homecooked Sunday dinner lovingly prepared by Sue.
When her family got a little older, she started to work outside of the home. She tended bar at the “Rose and Thistle” and then later for the B.C. Liquor Board. Any colleague would tell you that Sue had a very strong work ethic and excelled in anything that she was committed to.
In the 90’s they bought an ocean view property that they used for recreation for years on Saltspring Island. It eventually became their full-time home in her retirement years. Sue was in her happy place when she was hiking the mountain trails at Saltspring.
Another one of the joys in Sue’s life was her flower garden. She took great pleasure in working her garden and enjoying the fruits of her labour. In her later years, she even cultivated a small garden outside the pharmacy on North Bluff and tended to it daily. This was not physically easy for Sue as she could only work with one arm due to her left arm partial paralysis. But she persevered.
Sue enjoyed arts and crafts, especially sewing and dressmaking for her girls when they were young. Most memorable of her projects were the large Santas that she made for all the extended family members and collages with family photos.
Sue died on November 29th, 2023, at the age of seventy-six, surrounded by the people who love her.
She is predeceased by parents Alex and Kate, sisters Barbara, Shirley, Rita, and younger sister Sian. Sadly, she lost her youngest daughter Sian in 1993, a loss she never got over.
Sue is survived by husband Christopher, daughter Katie (Dean) de Sousa, grandchildren Hailey, Nicholas and Jacob de Sousa, sisters Patricia Van Benten and Caroline (Ronnie) Price and many nieces, nephews, and extended family members.
Sue was interred in the Memorial Garden at St. Oswald’s Anglican Church.
In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the B.C. Children’s Hospital Foundation.
https://www.bcchf.ca/ways-to-give/


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