Page 3 - Florida Sentinel 5-3-16 Online Edition

Features
Wife Of Popular Minister Dies After Brief Illness
MRS. ARSIE L. SIMS 7/26/1948 --- 4/28/2016
BY IRIS B. HOLTON Sentinel City Editor
The wife of a popular East Tampa minister died on Thursday following a brief illness. Mrs. Arsie L. Sims was 67-years-old.
Mrs. Sims, the wife of Rev. W. D. Sims, was the mother of 3 adult daughters. Mrs. Sims was in the hospital at the time of her passing.
A native of Bradenton, Mrs. Sims gradu- ated from Lincoln Memorial High School, in Palmetto. She then continued her education at Savannah State College. She earned an A. A.
degree, then changed her career path to be- come a Respiratory Specialist, Rev. Sims said.
After moving to Tampa in 1974, Mrs. Sims obtained employment at University Community Hospital (now Florida Hospital), where she worked for more than 40 years. She retired about 10 years ago.
“After she retired, she spent her time taking care of me. She enjoyed reading, visiting con- signment shops, garage sales, traveling, and focusing on people in the Bible,” he said.
Rev. Sims said his wife would never tell anyone how long they were married and he would respect her wish. But he shared a story about the couple.
“I called her Precious. I met her when I was 6-years-old and I said then ‘I’m gonna marry that girl.’ We grew up and went our sep- arate ways, but eventually we were married,” he said.
Mrs. Sims served as the First Lady for two churches pastored by Rev. Sims. The first church was Greater Faith M. B. Church, in Mulberry, where he pastored for 7 years. Then the couple moved to Tampa, where Rev. Sims has pastored St. Matthew M. B. Church for 21 years.
In addition to her husband and daughters, Mrs. Sims is survived by 8 grandchildren, other family members, church members, and friends.
Funeral services for Mrs. Sims will be held on Friday. Wilson’s Funeral Home is in charge of handling arrangements.
Student Dies After Being Struck By Car
The Polk County Sheriff’s Office reports that a 17-year- old George Jenkins High School student was killed Monday morning after he was struck by a car driven by a school crossing guard.
Kalen Kirk was taken to a local hospital where he was pronounced dead.
Deputies said Kirk was running across Clubhouse Road to a bus stop when he was hit at 6:18 a.m. There is no crosswalk or school cross- ing at the intersection and it was dark, deputies said.
Shirley Cross, 60, was driving east on Clubhouse Road when her car hit Kirk. She is employed as a crossing
KALEN KIRK
guard supervisor.
Witnesses told deputies
Cross was unable to avoid hitting Kirk.
An investigation into the accident is continuing.
Motorcyclist Killed In Crash
KENNETH GORDILS
On Saturday night, a 19- year-old man was killed after his motorcycle collided with a car that turned in front him at Hillsborough Avenue and Re- flections Club Drive.
Florida Highway Patrol Troopers reported that a BMW driven by Chanda Venkatesh, 27, turned left onto Hillsborough Avenue off
Reflections Club Drive in front of Kenneth Gordils, who was riding his motorcy- cle east on Hillsborough at 11:45 p. m.
Gordils braked in an ef- fort to avoid the car, but was thrown from the motorcycle in the collision, troopers said. He was pronounced dead at the scene.
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