Sandra Lee Simmons "Sandi"

Sandra (Sandi) Lee Simmons, age 80, of Miami Township, passed away on Monday, October 12, 2026, at Vienna Springs Health Campus, Miami Township. Sandi was born in Waukegan, Illinois in 1946. She attended elementary and high school there, and upon graduation went to work at Great Lakes Naval Center. It was there that she met Patrick Simmons, a naval submariner. They later married and that was the beginning of life at a series of naval bases around the country, during which their child Nichol Marie was born. After his assignment was completed, the family moved to Dayton, OH, his home town. However, shortly thereafter, they divorced and Sandi went to work at Wright Patterson AFB at a low-level Civil Service entry position. From there she worked her way up, getting a bachelor’s degree from Antioch College, and being assigned to a series of higher technology programs.

In January 1990, an Air Force colonel (Tom Jonak) was reassigned to Wright Patt to take over the program office Sandi was working in. On his first day there, he met Sandi who was sitting in on a staff meeting for her boss who was out of town. Later, after Sandi was reassigned, they became “a couple”, ultimately were married, and still deeply in love after 36 years.

Sandi went on to work on several high technology aircraft programs. First was the Advanced Tactical Fighter which was in source selection and became known as the F-22 Stealth Fighter. Here she became good friends with Lt Col Janet Libby (who later became General Janet Wolfenbarger). Along the way Sandi picked up her Master of Science degree from Central Michigan University, completed Air Command and Staff College and Air War College, and attended Defense Systems Management College in residence. After a couple other assignments, Sandi was selected to be the Executive Officer to Jerry Sutton, the Civilian Director of “Area B”. Sandi was then selected to be the Program Director of the extensively redesigned C-i30J program that was having difficult support problems in the Air Force and the Pentagon. She and her office turned it around and it is now the main US Air Force transport aircraft, as well as that for more than 30 countries around the world that bought it.

At the same time, Sandi was also very involved in the Dayton community. She served as the President of the Dayton View Triangle Homeowners Association (an area of more than 1000 homes) for five years during which there were many community activities during each year. Sandi was also the President of the Five Rivers MetroParks Wegerzyn Gardens Foundation for five years during which there were many activities (including the annual garden party) to raise money for the park. Sandi was also the Co-Chairman for many years (along with Jill Hamilton) of the annual Dayton Neighborhoods Ball in December bringing together all the various neighborhoods in Dayton. It was a dressy event that was also well attended by Dayton City Commissioners and Montgomery County Commissioners.

Later, Sandi was selected to participate in Leadership Dayton, a year long program designed to expose promising future leaders to the innerworkings of the city. Two years later she was selected for Leadership Ohio, a similar program that took her around the entire state. Several of her classmates even went on to high level positions, including a US Senator. In 1999 Sandi was selected as one of Dayton’s Top 10 Women, which included Zoe Dell Nutter who Sandi became good friends with while they would drive together to various functions during that year. Sandi also volunteered at the Dayton Art Institute for many years, in addition to working at an Oktoberfest beer tent for 34 years. And she also volunteered regularly at the Victoria Theatre and Schuster Center for 30 years.

When Sandi retired from civil service in 2003 after 32 years, she switched from high tech to the fine arts to renew her interests there. This included painting (acrylic, oil, watercolor, charcoal, and pencil) and pottery (hand and wheel). She was quite talented here as well and took first place in several competitions.

Sandi and Tom enjoyed traveling as often as possible. More than 20 ocean cruises, seven river cruises, and several land expeditions took them to all seven continents including Antarctica, and all the oceans including the Southern.

Sandi was preceded in death by her parents, Richard and Phyllis (Young) Selzer; brother James Selzer; and sister, Phyllis Ann Watson. She is survived by her husband, Tom Jonak; child, Nichol Simmons; brother, Raymond Selzer; and brother, Louis Selzer.

Many other dear friends include: Fran, Eric, Rich, Carolyn, Jim, Mickey, Karen, Steve, Betty, Dan, Robin, John, Kathy, Vicki, Bruce, Carol, John, Lonzo, Bob, Richard, Ed, John, Alan, Jill, Jerry, Jeannette, Peggy, Sunny, Joe, Pat, Jeredith, Janet, Wolf, Cheryl, Rick, Carlene, Ann, Marilyn, Fred, Mark, Ken, Chuck, David, Jo, and many more…

The family will receive friends on Wednesday, October 21, 2026 from 4:00 pm to 6:00 pm at Newcomer Centerville Chapel (820 Miamisburg-Centerville Rd., Dayton, OH 45459). A Celebration of Life will begin at 6:00 pm.

In lieu of flowers, please consider a memorial contribution in Sandi’s memory to the Parkinson’s Foundation, Michael J. Fox Foundation, or Wegerzyn Gardens Foundation.

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