Evelyn N. (Anderson) Simm, 89, of Natick, MA, and Virginia Beach, VA, was born in Boston on January 19, 1934, and passed peacefully on June 16, 2023, while in hospice at Beaumont Skilled Nursing in Natick. She will be remembered as a kind and loving mother, grandmother, wife and friend.
She and her husband, Frederick J. Simm raised their five children in Natick, MA, where she later returned to spend her final years. During their first year of marriage, the couple lived in Virginia, where her husband was stationed, naming their first daughter after the state and eventually retiring there for 25 years before returning to Massachusetts.
Evelyn grew up in West Roxbury, MA, where she graduated from Roslindale High School. She attended classes at the Museum of Fine Arts School before marrying. She enjoyed many crafts throughout her life, including sewing, ceramics, and reverse-glass painting. Her passion for stitching led her to be employed in fabric departments and to sell her handmade dolls and stuffed animals at craft fairs.
In addition to the arts, Evelyn enjoyed playing scrabble, gardening, and reading. When her eyesight failed, she listened to audiobooks, including her favorite genre–historical romances. She had volunteered for several organizations and helped in the schools when her children were growing up. She had served as a Scout Leader, focusing on square dancing with one troop; in retirement she and Fred learned to swing dance and enjoyed attending dances together where they made new friends in Virginia.
A devoted mother and grandmother, she leaves her three daughters, Virginia Baer and her husband Thomas of Holliston, Shirley Simm of Connecticut, Gale Batsimm and her husband Michael of Vermont, and her daughter-in-law Marilyn Simm of Natick. She was the loving grandmother of Debbie, Kim, Ryan, Susan, Sabrina, Matthew, Sarah, Connor, Gavin, and Jaynia and great-grandmother to Brock and Ronan. She is predeceased by her husband, Frederick J. Simm, and their two sons, Russell Simm of Holliston and Lawrence Simm of Maine, as well as her brother William, sister June, daughter-in-law Phyllis, and her grandchildren Robert and Sherri.
A graveside service will be held at Gardens at Gethsemane in West Roxbury. Donations may be made in her memory to the Perkins Library at the Perkins School for the Blind. Arrangements are under the care of the Chesmore Funeral Home of Holliston.