Rena Catherine Simmons, daughter of Danny and Edith Simmons, was born on May 15, 1986, in Orangeburg, South Carolina. She departed this life on July 4, 2009.

Rena was a 2005 graduate of Woodland High School, Dorchester, South Carolina. She was a student at Claflin University in Orangeburg, South Carolina where she majored in Biology.

Rena was a member of Greater St. Paul AME Church where she served a a junior usher. She participated in the African Methodist Episcopal church South Carolina Conference Debutante Master Commission in 2004. Rena was voted outstanding youth of the month in 2004 for her dedicated Christian service to Greater St. Paul AME Church.

Rena leaves to mourn , her parents, Danny and Edith Simmons of the home; one sister, Catherine Michelle Simmons; one brother, Daniel Simmons; her maternal grandmother, Carrie Bell Brown; two uncles, Maurice Brown and Eric Brown both of Dorchester, South Carolina; aunts, Odetta B. Smiley and Michelle Robinson; and a host of grand aunts and uncles, cousins, relatives and friends.