Barbara Jean Simmons Jernigan

Barbara Jean Simmons Jernigan, 91, passed away Sunday, January 26, 2014 in the Coliseum Hospital at Macon, Georgia. Barbara was born December 9, 1922 in Northville, Michigan. She graduated from Northville High School and from Michigan State College, where she received her bachelor's degree in business. She met her husband, Rex Jernigan of Santa Fe, New Mexico, in Arlington, Virginia where he was stationed in the Army during World War II and she had a job with the Army Signal Corps, working on deciphering the Japanese code. They were married in Northville, Michigan on July 12, 1949. Their early married years were spent in Albuquerque, New Mexico before they moved to Novi, Michigan and then Farmington, Michigan, where they raised their children. Barbara worked as a bookkeeper and kept the books for her husband's laundry/dry cleaning businesses. She later earned her teaching certificate from Wayne State University in Detroit and worked for a number of years as an elementary school teacher for the Farmington, Michigan public school system. She and Rex spent their retirement years in Prescott, Arizona and Minneola, Florida. A few years after the death of her husband, Barbara moved to Macon, Georgia to be close to her daughter. Barbara loved working crossword puzzles and playing cards with friends, neighbors and family members. She was passionate about keeping in touch with old friends and would send out dozens of Christmas cards every year. She spent many hours knitting, making suits for herself and sweaters for her family. Always very determined and goal oriented, she learned to ride a bike in her 40s so that she could take neighborhood rides with her husband. She and Rex traveled extensively in their retirement to both domestic and international locations, as well as taking several cruises. With her usual stoic determination, Barbara fought her way through macular degeneration and became almost completely blind with rarely a word of complaint. She always loved to read and listened to books on tape after losing her eyesight. A list of the tapes she ordered shows a grand total of 2,204. To say she was an avid reader is an understatement! Among her favorite authors were Mary Higgins Clark, Danielle Steel, and Debbie Macomber. Her favorite book and one that she talked about for a long time after reading it was "Our Mother's War" by Emily Yellin. Barbara was predeceased by her husband, Rex Jernigan; her parents, George Simmons and Norine Hogle Simmons; her sister, Lucile Mihay; and a brother, Bruce Simmons. Survivors include her daughter, Sharon Tingley (Richard) of Lizella, Georgia; son, Michael Jernigan (Sally) of Lowell, Michigan; four grandchildren: Michelle (Craig) Folsom of Warner Robins, Georgia, Julie Tingley of Atlanta, Georgia, Whitney (Tyler) Hoard of Lowell, Michigan, and Rex Jernigan of Commerce, Michigan; two great grandchildren: Aubree Folsom and Mason Hoard; and brother, Richmond Simmons (Audrey) of Minneola, Florida. Services will be private. Donations in Barbara's memory may be made to BrightFocus Foundation, Macular Degeneration Research at www.brightfocus.org or BrightFocus, 22512 Gateway Center Drive, Clarksburg, Maryland 20871, attention: Development Department, 1-800-437-2423. Hart's Mortuary and Crematory at the Cupola has charge of arrangements.