The Doss and Simmons Family Reunion - 1940

   Between the years 1920 and 1940 they traveled back and forth between Oklahoma and California several times. Some of the relatives settled in Oklahoma. And to this day you can find the Dosses and the Simmons there.
   James and the boys became carpenters, they built several houses in Riverside and Pedly. Josephine went to work for the Hospital in Riverside for some time.
   Josephine and James had two other children, Ronald and Clifford Richard. Both born in California.
   By 1940 they had settled in. At one time they had a boarding house in Riverside. Than the boys built them a ranch in Pedly. There they raised, cows, chickens and of course horses.
   Josephine and James said, they missed their families in Oklahoma. But as I grew up, we had a family reunion every year. And when the family got so big that a house would not hold them, we met at Fairmont Park, in Riverside.
   All I can say, is that according to them, they had a good life, a rich life. With lots of loving and kindness, along with honest work, laughter, music and good old time religion. That's when you treat you neighbor like family.
   My Grandmother Josephine taught me, to Love first and always, to trust in the Lord and to do my best. Nothing was too hard, there were only bumps in the road and it was not where you settled that makes a person, it is the journey.

Submitted By: Joyce Potter - August 13, 2001