Sarah Lou Sims

Her children arise up, and call her blessed; her husband also, and he praiseth her. Proverbs 31:28 Sarah Lou Sims slipped peacefully into the arms of her Savior on December 17, 2014 at her home in Groesbeck, Texas. Visitation will be held at the Groesbeck Funeral Home on Sunday, December 21, 2014, from 6:00 to 8:00 P.M. Funeral Services will be held at 11 A.M. on Monday, December 22, 2014, at the Lost Prairie Baptist Church, with Reverend Tracy Sims officiating.  Interment will be in Lost Prairie Cemetery. Pallbearers will be Scott Byrd, Wesley Byrd, Ben Dolan, Nick Dolan, James Fewell, Chase Adams, Richard Dolan and Miguel Sanchez.  Honorary Pallbearers will be her nephews Don Evans, Gary Evans, Butch Evans, Larry Evans, John Evans and Ed Evans. Born December 4, 1922, in Dawson, Texas, she was the only daughter of six children born to George R. (Brother Bob) and Rosa Belle Dailey Evans. She grew up on farms in the Dawson and Hubbard areas, learning practical skills from her five brothers and cooking skills from her mother. As an adult, she could always be counted on to have a pair of wire cutters in her purse and a wonderful cake in the oven. She graduated from Hubbard High School in 1940 and enrolled in North Texas State College, leaving college after a year to obtain a beautician’s license, then practicing at a shop in Mexia. Sarah married her beloved husband, Alton Sims, on December 1, 1950, and devoted the next 64 years to her husband and family. She and Alton had three children, a son, Jerry, who died tragically as a toddler, and daughters Wanda and Sarah Luann. Alton’s job with Exxon took the family from Mexia, to Longview, then to the Houston area, where they lived until Alton’s retirement in 1976. They then returned to Limestone County, settling in Groesbeck. The daughter of a Baptist preacher, Sarah became a Christian at an early age. With the heart of a servant, she devoted her life to the care of her family and service to others. She was especially devoted to the Ladies’ Auxiliary at Limestone Medical Center, where she was a Pink Lady for more than 30 years. Upon her retirement from the group, she was honored for her service by the establishment of an annual scholarship in her name. She was always an active room mother for her girls’ classes, making homemade refreshments and creative craft items for class parties. Later, she was active in several service clubs in Groesbeck, including the Shakespeare Club and Garden Club. She had a talent for flower arranging and an amazing green thumb. After Alton’s retirement, Sarah worked tirelessly by his side at their farm near Groesbeck, mending fences, feeding cattle, and even building a barn. The barn project required cutting large cedar trees to provide the center posts of the barn, and dragging the posts with a chain on foot through the woods to the building site, which Sarah did alongside her husband and daughter Luann. She and Alton also helped establish a local Exxon retirees’club, as well as a supper club with the unlikely name of “The Wild Bunch.” By example, she instilled in her children and grandchildren the skill of self-discipline. No one wanted to disappoint Granny and be on the receiving end of that “Granny look.” She loved babies and had an incredible knack for calming a fussy child. She took great joy in her grandchildren, and they, like her husband and daughters, were completely devoted to her. She was blessed this year to be able to hold her great-grandaughter, who was also named Sarah in her great-grandmother’s honor. Sarah was preceded in death by her parents; her husband Alton in 2011; her son Jerry; and her five brothers, Carlos Evans, Paul Evans, Jack Evans, Jim Ed Evans and Robert Evans; as well as 10 of her husband’s brothers and sisters, including J.B.(Bunk) Sims, Aulsie Sims, Jep Sims, Archie Sims, Junior (Glynn) Sims, Warner Sims, Allene Sims Maskew, Christine Sims, Hazel Sims Fitzgerald and Anna Ruth Sims Reed. She is survived by her daughters, Wanda Sims Fewell and husband Brett of Groesbeck, and Luann Sims Dolan of Bryan, as well as a son-in-law, Richard Dolan of the Woodlands; her grandchildren, Scott Byrd and wife Maranie of Hurst, Wesley Byrd and wife Debbie of Groesbeck, Ben Dolan of Albuquerque, New Mexico, Nick Dolan of Las Vegas, Nevada, James Fewell and wife Ashlie of Plano and Jami Adams and husband Chase of Frost: and great-grandchildren Sarah Loyal Byrd of Groesbeck and Kaynce and Kaislyn Adams of Frost. She is also survived by her sisters-in law, Betty Evans of Nacogdoches, Betty Sims of San Antonio, and Wylene Sims Bryan and husband Jim Bob of New Braunfels, as well as brother-in law Dr. E.E. (Eugene) Sims of Waco, and a large number of nieces and nephews. The family is so very grateful to her devoted caregivers, Rose Pelton, Lynn Sparks, Denise Smith, Wanda Howard and Shirley Popejoy, and dear friend Dorla Sims.  The family suggests memorials may be made to the Sarah Sims Scholarship fund of the Ladies Auxiliary at Limestone Medical Center, 701 McClintic Drive, Groesbeck, Texas 76642.