Terry Baxter Simmons

Terry Baxter Simmons, 84, of Lexington, Kentucky, went to be with his Lord on April 12, 2024. Terry was born to Victor and Polly Simmons on November 3, 1939, on a tenant farm in Edmonton, Kentucky, with nothing in the way of modern comforts. He had loving parents, a bountiful garden, and a duty to assist his sharecropping family in the tobacco fields. He was educated in a one room schoolhouse and graduated in the bottom of his class at Edmonton High School, but later claimed that he achieved a self-described “experienced-based PhD (Pool Hall Doctorate).”

Throughout his life, Terry held an unwavering commitment to turning his dreams into heartfelt desires, his desires into iron clad determination, and his determination into steady action. He called these the “4 D’s: Dream, Desire, Determine, Do.”

Through the use of the 4 Ds, Terry Simmons graduated from the University of Kentucky College of Architecture in 1969, as one of the seven or eight remaining candidates from the 60 to 70 that had started off with them 5 years before.

Mr. Simmons founded Terry B. Simmons Architects, Inc., and was responsible for buildings in 70 of Kentucky’s 120 counties as well as projects in several other states, including many churches, schools, and public buildings. Before his retirement, his firm was the oldest architecture firm in Lexington with its founding principal still active in practice.

As he wrote in his book, Innocence, Adversity, and Enlightenment, “Mr. Simmons has pursued an adult life of commitment toward completing wonderful processes of personal and professional enlightenment. That journey began with his determination to not be a victim of adversity.”

Terry B. Simmons is survived by his wife, Sheridan Binkley Simmons; his four children, Karen Priestley, Doug Simmons, Cindy Simmons, and Emily Simmons Shuham; and his grandsons, Josh Priestley, Aaron Priestley, and Seth Hundley. Terry was preceded in death by his grandson, Ethan Hundley.

Mr. Simmons’ family will host a memorial service on Thursday, April 18, 2024, at 12:00 p.m., at Tates Creek Presbyterian Church in Lexington. In lieu of flowers, please consider making a donation to Young Life in Terry’s name.