Carol Lorraine Simmonds passed away peacefully January 5, 2025 in the Mazankowski Cardiac Intensive Care Unit surrounded by her loved ones, twenty years following the death of her beloved husband Clifford. Born July 18, 1944 in Vancouver, she was the first child and only daughter of Edna (nee Laine) and Thomas Holand. Following his naval career, Tom and Edna settled in Viking farming near Prague and next to Tom's parents Thomas and Ella Holand. Carol's brothers Garry and Marvin completed the family.

Carol walked to Lake Alice School alone as a six-year-old child, across their land and the next quarter her grandparents owned. In the winter when conditions were more than Carol could manage to walk or ride horseback alone, Tom would take her with the horse and stone boat, bundled up with Edna's homemade quilts and hot rocks for her feet.

On March 22, 1963, at 17 years of age, Carol married the love of her life, 21 year old local Clifford Oliver Simmonds in Vegreville. Carol had been waitressing at Rudy's Café for Rudy and Mamie Bruha when they met. The newlyweds lived with Cliff's mom Adeline Simmonds in her small home on Main Street, Bruce. Adeline taught Carol many things including how to make her famous bread and dressing for poultry. Later they brought their first child Wanda Lynn home to Bruce following her birth at the Viking Hospital in 1963. The family moved several times as the family grew welcoming Dean Robert in 1964 and Grant Preston in 1965, three children under two in diapers long before Pampers, spin washers or dryers. With Cliff working construction away from home most of the time, Carol and the kids lived an isolated, happy life enjoying barn swallows dancing in the garden sprinklers, picking wild raspberries down numerous "blind" roads with Tom and Edna, bacon fat sandwiches, venison roast and fried perch Cliff caught with many, many tiny bones to be removed at the table before the kids could eat with a bread chaser.

Her massive gardens, home raised chickens and turkeys meant the family was well-fed. Wanda remembers shelling numerous 5-gallon pails of peas in the shade of the huge maples on Thompsons, followed by a glass of Koolaid. Lunch consisted of homemade bread sandwiches of "big" bologna and fresh lettuce, and hot tea with sugar, and maybe a homemade popsicle. Carol convinced the kids gardening was fun by allowing each to have their "own row" of whatever they wanted, with the honor of doing the weeding and harvesting. Little did she know what seeds she was really planting.

Wanda was 11 when Carol went back to work full-time for Lindy's Café. Big change for the family as
Carol was not home after school, but Cliff was working more at home, started his own construction
business, and the couple was finally able to spend more time together. Camping and fishing in Alberta
and British Columbia on weekends and a week or two in the summer was a common occurrence as the
family got away, anytime they could. Even occasionally enjoying a weekend ice-fishing with their truck
and camper… parked on the lake ice with Grandpa Tom along sitting way out on the ice, shaking that
stick, even with the blizzard swirling around him. Dean and Wanda remember taking a plate out for
Grandpa wherever he was sitting, AWAY from the three kids and their parents.

Carol and Cliff worked at and owned businesses in the Viking area until Clifford passed April 2005 and Carol finally retired to Vialta Lodge in January 2022. This included Cliff's Construction, Viking Greenhouses, Viking Market Gardens, pig, egg, and chicken sales. There are many homes that were graced by Carol's long stem roses she brought into the greenhouse for Mother's Day or yards graced by the petunias and many other flowers Carol and Cliff started from seed in the greenhouse which topped well over 10,000 square feet at their peak. Carol was so very proud of achieving her pesticide certificate for their greenhouse in Ryley alongside a dozen or so other "big" farmers. Carol wowed them all with
the highest mark in the class!

Cliff was infamous for inviting one or two extra's for celebrations such as Thanksgiving, Easter, Christmas or New Years Day, anytime Carol was putting a 30-45 pound home-raised turkey in the oven. When you are serving 20 or 30 relatives, what's one or two more as Cliff would say. Money was tight, but simple food was plentiful, and the couple always ensured no one would be alone or hungry, whether they knew them well, or were a new acquaintance from last night at the Viking Hotel.

Carol loved RED, Dodge trucks, ABBA, Elvis, smoked cod, CHOCOLATE and/or NUTS, a really good salad bar, Labatts Lite, raspberries, Jack-shirts, red high heels, perfume, Wanda's mashed potatoes, making popcorn or pizza or cheese burgers or baking for her family especially while camping, towing her 5th wheel trailer with sister in law Gail as her co-pilot, and a big old campfire.

The family is grateful Carol celebrated her 80 th birthday last summer at Vialta Lodge surrounded by numerous family members and friends. She was in reasonably good health until just a few days before her passing, and was coherent until the end. Rest in peace Mom, your work is done. We all love you and know you have joined Clifford in heaven.

Carol is survived by her brother Marvin Holand of Brooks; daughter Wanda (Daniel) Sullivan, son Dean (Julianne), numerous grandchildren, step-grandchildren, great grandchildren, step-grandchildren and friends.

A Celebration of Carol's Life will be held this summer 2025. Memorial donations in lieu of flowers to the Alberta Heart & Stroke Foundation or the Viking Golden Valley Lutheran Church.