Simmons: true ‘people’s judge’
Paul A. Simmons was a compassionate man and tireless worker, according to those closest to the former Washington County and U.S. District Court judge.
Simmons, who started out as a young railroad worker and became the first African-American federal judge in Western Pennsylvania, rooted his life’s work in a desire to help people.
“He was never thinking, ‘I’ve reached the top. This is it,’ nor was he afraid to venture for something and have greater goals,” said his wife of 64 years, Gwendolyn Gladden Simmons. “He would never have done that if he hadn’t had faith in the goodness of people.”
Simmons, 93, of Monongahela, died of natural causes Thursday. In addition to his wife, he is survived by three children, Paul A. Simmons Jr. of Boston, Mass., and Gwendolyn D. Simmons and Anne Simmons Scott, both of New York City. A sister, Eleanor Simmons Newton, lives in Glen Rock, N.J.
Simmons graduated from Monongahela City Public Schools in 1939. He worked for his family’s construction company and then took a job with the Pennsylvania Railroad.
But that came to an abrupt halt in 1942 when he was seriously injured by a moving train in the rail yard. His right leg was amputated above the knee.
No lawyer would take his case against the railroad, so Simmons took his mother’s advice and visited the Allegheny County Law Library in Pittsburgh to look for a railroad case in which damages were awarded. He succeeded and settled the case with the railroad himself.
“He had tenacity,” Gwendolyn Simmons said. “Can you imagine being 21 and having a leg amputated? That’s when he realized he’d have to use his hands in terms of making a living.”
Simmons then attended the University of Pittsburgh on a full scholarship from the state Bureau of Vocational Rehabilitation and graduated in 1946 with high honors. He graduated from Harvard Law School in 1949 and passed his bar exam that same year.
He then taught law at universities in North Carolina and South Carolina. During that time, he met his future wife, who taught economics and sociology at Allen University in South Carolina.
His class lessons played an important role in the civil rights cases of the 1950s. He advised a student, Abraham Kennedy, on how to initiate the first federal challenge to the separate-but-equal doctrine in public schools. His arguments against the school system were later adopted by an attorney in a historic case that was incorporated into Brown vs. Board of Education, which outlawed racial segregation in schools in 1954.
Simmons returned to Monongahela in 1956 and worked as a trial lawyer involved in both civil and criminal cases until 1973. He argued numerous high-profile cases, including the first class-action lawsuit in the United States under new federal stipulations.
Keith Melenyzer, his former law partner in Charleroi, described Simmons as an “outstanding attorney” who became a respected judge.
“I guess you hear the phrase every once in a while, about being a ‘people’s judge,'” Melenyzer said of Simmons. “Attorneys sometimes get carried away, but he was always protecting the individuals in his courtroom.”
Melenyzer said Simmons also was a compassionate person who would “almost mesmerize you with his personality and demeanor.”
Simmons was appointed to Washington County Court of Common Pleas in 1973 and was elected to a 10-year term on the county bench in 1975. Three years later, he was named to the federal bench for the Western District of Pennsylvania by President Jimmy Carter.
Sue Hunter, longtime friend of the Simmons family, remembers that day well. She and the Simmonses were at a Pittsburgh Courier gala when Hunter heard that, with the Senate’s confirmation, Simmons would be the first black federal judge in the region.
When she stood up and announced the news, “it brought the house down.”
“Everybody was happy and proud. They stood up, and the applause was resounding,” Hunter said. “I think Mrs. Simmons never forgot that.”
As a federal judge, Simmons was involved in nearly 1,500 cases. He worked seven days a week, according to his wife, but enjoyed watching Steelers and Pirates games in his spare time.
Most of all, Gwendolyn Simmons admired her husband’s optimistic outlook on life.
“One thing I remember distinctly, he would always tell the children, ‘Don’t be a quitter. Work hard,'” she said. “And this is something that’s very important – he believed that in order to achieve or do anything worthwhile, you had to have support of other people. You couldn’t do it alone.”
Visitation will be held from 7 to 9 p.m. Tuesday and 2 to 4 and 7 to 9 p.m. Wednesday in Frye Funeral Home Inc., 427 West Main Street, Monongahela. A service will be held at 11 a.m. Thursday, October 16, in Bethel African Methodist Episcopal Church, 700 Main Street, Monongahela, with burial to follow.
Memorial contributions may be made to Paul and Gwendolyn Simmons International Scholarship Fund, California University of Pennsylvania, California, PA 15419, or to Washington County Community Foundation, 331 S. Main St., Washington, PA 15301.
Condolences may be made to the family at www.fryefuneralhome.com.