Richard Landon Sims, 76, of Sparta, Tennessee, United States of America, was born in White County Hospital, on Dec. 7, 1944, and died April 27, 2021, at Leacock Care Center, Orillia, Ontario, Canada.
Richard’s boyhood on a farm, in Doyle, Tennessee, taught him to work hard and expect little. As an Eagle Scout and FFA as a speaker, he honed his people skills. Further education at the University of the South sharpened his dry humor.
He was drafted into the Vietnam War while pursuing a master’s degree in English Literature, at the University of South Carolina. The next step on his life journey was with the Institute of Cultural Affairs, helping communities develop socially and financially in the Philippines, Taiwan, and Korea, and in the United States, in Illinois, Georgia, and other states.
The city of Chicago was his home base for many years, with eclectic employments ranging from taxi driver to a seat on the Chicago Stock Exchange. In 2007, Chicago was the site of his wedding to Janet Sanders, of Nebraska. Home for the rest of his life was with Jan, on Lake Simcoe, an hour north of Toronto.
A colleague said of Richard, “He entered my heart in a way hard to express. He had a spark in his eye/soul and a bend in his personality that meant you never knew what was coming next. Sometimes that was hard, but, in the long view, it shines among the best things, becoming what I treasure perhaps most in human interactions. Richard had that shine, and, even with me, who he knew hardly at all, he radiated quiet warmth.” Another friend said Richard “was a deep friend of the universe, a powerful teacher, and a gentle caring soul.”
Richard “Dick” Sims was the son of Haskell Dickerson Sims and Jewel Taylor Sims. His siblings are John Sims (Cookeville), Jane Sims Camp (McMinnville), Susan Sims Hall (McMinnville), and Samuel Dickerson Sims (Rock Island, deceased). Nieces and nephews are Jack Sims (Lenoir City), Eleanor Sims York (Livingston), Scott Sims (Nashville), Carol Camp White (Taos), Scott Camp (Hilton Head), Reesa Vides (Hobe Sound) as well as many other family members.
We celebrate his completed life on earth. The twin brothers of Joy and Sorrow and Life and Death are dancing in this celebration.
