Born in Monongahela, Pennsylvania, on August 31, 1921, Simmons received a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Pittsburgh in 1946 and a Juris Doctor from Harvard Law School in 1949.

He was a professor at the South Carolina State University School of Law in Orangeburg, South Carolina, from 1949 to 1952.

He was a professor at the North Carolina Central University School of Law in Durham, North Carolina, from 1952 to 1956.

Subsequently a lawyer in private practice in Monongahela from 1956 to 1973, he was then appointed as a judge of the Washington County Court of Common Pleas in Pennsylvania, a position he held from 1973 to 1978.

[1] Simmons was nominated by President Jimmy Carter on January 26, 1978, to a seat on the United States District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania vacated by Judge Ralph Francis Scalera.