William Simmons, plating firm founder, dies at 84
Times Picayune 08-18-2009


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William Simmons plated 'the bumpers and all else that could be plated' on Fats Domino's Cadillac.

William Simmons, the founder of a local multimillion-dollar industrial-plating business whose
projects included a Catholic church's altar and Fats Domino's pink Cadillac, died Monday at his
New Orleans home of mesothelioma, a form of cancer caused by exposure to asbestos. He was 84.

The business that became Simmons Plating and Grinding Co. was launched with a $75 loan Mr.
Simmons received from his uncle after his service in the Marine Corps during World War II.

With that loan, Mr. Simmons opened a chrome-plating business on Magazine Street. He tried to
learn from other people in the business, but they refused to pass on their knowledge because they
didn't want the competition, said Barbara Ferguson, his companion.

So Mr. Simmons, who had left high school before graduating to join the Marines, took college
classes at night to learn about the process.

As Mr. Simmons practiced his trade, he developed an improved technique of electroplating,
designed a plating machine and built a coast-to-coast client list that included General Electric
and companies along the lower Mississippi River and the Gulf Coast.

Locally, Mr. Simmons gold-plated the altar at Immaculate Conception Church in New Orleans'
Central Business District, Ferguson said, and "the bumpers and all else that could be plated" on
Fats Domino's Cadillac.

The business grew so much that Mr. Simmons opened a second plant in Elmwood.

As it expanded, it evolved, said Clay Spencer, who bought the Elmwood plant from Mr. Simmons in
1996.

At first, he said, Mr. Simmons' company performed a wide variety of functions, including plating,
finishing, polishing and decorating.

Then it moved to more industrial work, including plating bus bars, which are electrical
connections between multiple electrical devices.

More recently, Spencer said, the company has developed coatings for rotating equipment such as
compressors, turbines and gears.

A native of Birmingham, Ala., who had lived in New Orleans since he was 5, Mr. Simmons was a
trustee of St. Luke's United Methodist Church.

In addition to Ferguson, survivors include a sister, Amelia Coghlan of Covington.

A funeral will be held Thursday at 1 p.m. at St. Luke's United Methodist Church, 5875 Canal Blvd.
Visitation will start at 10 a.m. at Schoen Funeral Home, 3827 Canal St.

Burial will be in Hope Mausoleum.