By Dominik Lobkowicz
With his 82nd birthday coming up next month and 71 years of work under his belt, Alton Simmons, of Newcastle, has decided it
is time to retire.
His last day of work was Oct. 25, wrapping up over 27 years as janitor in the final seven years of the Bremen School and the
building’s current incarnation as the Bremen Town Office. When the town took over, Simmons said he just kept on working.
“I’ve been working in that building close to 30 years now,” Simmons said.
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Work has been a part of Simmons’s life for far more years than not. He began his working life at age 11, getting a job at a
poultry plant while he finished school.
Simmons’s first career was as an enlisted man in the U.S. Army. He served two stints with the 2nd Armored Division “Hell on
Wheels” in occupied Germany after World War II, and did an 18-month tour in Korea during the war there.
“Most of what I did in the service was cooking,” Simmons said. “I was a mess Sergeant for quite a few years.”
When he left the Army as a Sergeant First-Class after 26 years, Simmons found a little resistance when he returned to Maine
and tried to keep on cooking.
“I tried to work at Moody’s Diner, but they didn’t want anybody who cooked in the service,” Simmons said. “I said,
‘Good.'”
Instead, he took to the road, driving trucks locally and across the country for over 20 years. He worked overlapping terms
for two different firms: 17 years for G&A Distributors, of Waldoboro, and for Lincoln Canoe, of Damariscotta.
Simmons’ wife of 44 years, Linda, used to travel with him in the truck until they had their three children, he said.
In addition to working in Bremen and filling as a janitor in schools in Nobleboro and Bristol, Simmons worked for years as a
custodian at the South Bristol School, including working for a time as head custodian.
Simmons said he liked working down in South Bristol and all the children liked him. Above his custodial duties, he would set
up the the school’s soccer field each year and helped build the sets for school plays.
“He was a great addition to the school,” said Connie Kennedy, who worked with Simmons at the South Bristol School. “He was
here every day, always with a smile, always greeted everybody,” she said.
Kennedy said Simmons helped everyone, even coming in early on snowy days to make sure everything was shoveled out.
“He could fix anything,” she said.
Nancy Hatch, a teacher who worked with Simmons, said he was one who could make things happen.
“The thing that stands out to me the most is you could say, ‘I wish I had this or that’ and the next day you’d have it,”
Hatch said. She remembers mentioning she wished a certain easel had wheels, and the next day Simmons had put wheels on
it.
“I still have it to this day,” Hatch said.
Pamela Sperry, who served as principal of the South Bristol School during some of the years Simmons worked there, was
surprised to hear of his retirement.
“I can’t believe he’s retiring because I can’t imagine him retired,” Sperry said. “He’s always been such a worker and work
meant so much to him.”
Sperry described Simmons as wonderful, dedicated, and a hard worker.
“He really cared about doing a good job and cared about the kids,” she said.
Simmons’s devotion was such that his attempts to make do with what he had would sometimes be a bit unorthodox, Sperry
said.
She recalled one day when a picture fell off the wall, breaking the glass, and Simmons did his best to fix it.
“It was this lovely picture and he knew that it was a special picture and he had put it back up on the wall and all the
pieces of glass were taped,” she said.
“I was like ‘no, that’s not going to work,’ and it just was so funny,” Sperry said. “He did love to jury-rig things.”
The devotion was there, though, both to the job and to the students, she said.
“He will never be idle, I just can’t picture it,” Sperry said.
After the South Bristol School, Simmons took on another custodial leadership position at the Camden YMCA, where he worked
the night crew until 2012.
Over his long life, Simmons has overcome his fair share of challenges, including taking shrapnel in his left leg while in
Korea.
“They wanted to cut it off, and I wouldn’t let ’em,” he said.
More recently, and perhaps an example of a similar determination, Simmons has beaten both prostate and colon cancer. For at
least seven years, his semi-annual screenings have come up clear, he said.
Asked why he chose to retire now, Simmons said it is about time to slow down, at least a little bit.
“I’m getting older, I guess,” he said.
Both Simmons’ father and grandfather lived until they were 98. Asked if he thought he would beat their record, Simmons
replied, “I don’t know; I’ll work at it.”
In his new retirement, Simmons said he is still working a little: helping take care of the animals on the old Elden Hunt
Farm where he and Linda live. He is looking forward mostly to relaxing and spending time with his grandchildren.
