Veronica Simmons

Veronica was born in Hancock to Albert and Ann (Pavolich) Butkovich on Feb. 27, 1945. She attended St. Ignatious Catholic School and graduated from Houghton High School in 1963.

She married Gary Simmons on June 13, 1964, in Houghton. Prior to their move to Ontonagon, Veronica worked at the St Joseph Hospital in Houghton as a nurse aide.

After moving to Ontonagon, Gary and Veronica started their family together. While her children were small, she was a stay at home mom, and later she worked outside of the home. She worked at, and later managed, the Citgo gas station, and worked as a cake decorator at the IGA bakery.

Throughout her life, Veronica was strong in her faith. She was an active member of the Holy Family Catholic Church. 

Veronica lived a full life and never missed an opportunity to spend time with her friends and family. She loved riding motorcycles – whether that be on her own bike or on the back of Gary’s. Together, they made several trips out west to Sturgis and Montana, and enjoyed seeing different areas of the country.

She was fond of taking photos and always had loads of pictures to share of her adventures. She loved camping and looked forward to time spent at campgrounds around the U.P. and surrounding area. If she wasn’t camping, most summer days you could find her outside enjoying her wrap-around porch.

She was incredibly talented at nearly all crafts and was proud to pass on her talents to her daughters and grandchildren. She loved to sew, crochet, knit, bake, decorate cakes, and cook.

Every meal she prepared was made with love, and was served, endearingly, at least thirty minutes late. She always made sure she had everyone’s favorite snacks on hand and loved having company and visiting.

She was always on the hunt for a new Red Hat for her Red Hat society meetings, and could be counted on to show up to scrapbooking each week. For all her skills and talents and passions, the thing she loved the most was a big hug from her loved ones.

Veronica will be remembered lovingly as a strong wife, mother, auntie, granny, great granny, and friend.

Veronica is survived by her husband of 61 years, Gary; her children, Jeanne (Terry) Pollard of Ontonagon, and Theresa (Bryan) Wright of St. Clairsville, Ohio; her grandchildren, Kendra (Don) Pollard-Krueger, Kyle (Lauren) Pollard, Gary May, Brittany (Bret) May, and Kelsey Wright; her great-grandchildren, Duncan and Darla Pollard, Jaiden, Jaxson, and Zoey May, Landon Vasey and Josephine May; sisters-in-law, Dolores Butkovich and Virginia Aho; and she is also survived by many loving nieces and nephews.

Veronica was preceded in death by her parents, Albert and Ann Butkovich; her brother, Albert J. Butkovich; sister and brother-in-law, Valerie and Michael Lind; sister, Virginia Bastian; father-in-law and mother-in-law, Douglas and Edith Simmons; and brother-In-law and sister-in-law, Robert and Kyoko (Kaye) Simmons.

A Memorial Mass of Christian Burial will be held on Saturday, Oct. 4, 2025, at the Holy Family Catholic Church in Ontonagon. Visitation will be from 10-11 a.m. with a Memorial Mass to follow at 11 a.m. A luncheon will follow in the church basement.

Cane Funeral Home is assisting the family with arrangements.