By Ralphine Major

“When he was at Lincoln Memorial University (LMU), he was able to run track.  He ran so fast, he was nicknamed Phantom,” Rada said.  She was referring to her father, the late Dr. A. D. Simmons, who would eventually become the only medical doctor in the Corryton Community.

“He worked every day in the wee hours of the morning at the dairy farm on the campus before school and late after to pay for his education there,” Rada shared about her father’s college days.  “He told me he would go to his room after classes and write and rewrite his notes taken in class to help him remember it all.”  Years later, it had to be a special moment for the doctor when he returned to LMU with daughter Sylvia.  “Dad lived in Grant Lee Hall on LMU campus,” Sylvia said.  “When he moved me into LaFrantz-Poole Hall at LMU in 1965, he told me he remembered moving in the furniture when the dorm first opened.”

I looked at the picture of the young track runner to see a resemblance of the family doctor that we came to know over the years.  I could certainly see the drive and determination in his face as a student athlete—the same drive and determination that, undoubtedly, helped him overcome obstacles and setbacks on his journey to becoming a doctor.

(To be continued)