OGDENSBURG — The funeral for William John Alton Simms, 82, of 4991 Route 812, will be at noon Saturday at Galilee United Methodist Church with Thomas A. Nichols, lay minister, officiating. Burial will be in Pine Hill Cemetery, Eel Weir Road. A reception will follow the service at Galilee United Methodist Church, Black Lake Road.

He died Monday at St. Joseph's Hospital, Syracuse. Calling hours will be from 2 to 4 and 7 to 9 p.m. Friday at the family home in Ogdensburg. Arrangements are with Frary Funeral Home.

In his youth, Mr. Simms worked on his family farm. Mr. and Mrs. Simms rented a horse farm in 1953 on Horseshoe Road, Heuvelton, before relocating in 1959 to their present farm on Route 812. He retired from farming in 1989.

Born April 15, 1926, in Mountain, Ontario, son of William H. and Mae Miller Simms, he immigrated to the state with his family when he was 4 years old via the ferry to Ogdensburg. He graduated in 1943 from Ogdensburg Free Academy. Mr. Simms became a citizen in 1953 and was a dedicated voter.

He married Dorothy Jean Livingston, his childhood sweetheart, on June 26, 1952, at Galilee United Methodist Church with the Rev. Merle O. Brown officiating.

Mr. Simms was a member of Seaway Bulk Milk Producers Cooperative Inc. He was a current trustee on the Pine Hill Cemetery Association, where he served for 25 years.

Mr. Simms was a member of Ogdensburg Baptist Church for many years, later transferring his membership to Galilee United Methodist Church, where he served as a trustee and was on several committees. Mr. Simms was very active in the restoration of the church and was the coffee maker for many years at functions.

Surviving besides his wife are four daughters and their husbands, Barbara and David Sullivan, Marlborough, Mass., Mary Lou and William Rupp, Ogdensburg, Janet and Mark Brouillette, Waddington, and Janice and Rick Sutphin, Apalachin; two sons and their wives, John and Julie, Cazenovia, and W. Jay and Robyn, Lebanon, N.H.; a sister and her husband, Edna and Webster Fields, Ogdensburg; three sisters-in-law, Betty Simms, Mrs. Leonard Livingston and Mrs. Ivan Livingston, all of Ogdensburg; and 13 grandchildren.

A son, Dale Livingston Simms, died in 1981. A sister, Jean Livingston, in 2005, two brothers, Miller Simms in 1985, and C. Malcolm Simms in 1938, and a grandson in 1995, also died before him.

Donations may be made to Galilee United Methodist Church, care of Mrs. Mary Lou Rupp, 95 Hutchinson Road, Ogdensburg, N.Y. 13669.