Admired Resident and Nurse Passes Away

By Brooke Stevenson
brooke@seymourherald.com
A long time resident and nurse in Sevierville passed away last week.
   Theo Hazel Sims, L.P.N., 94, passed away on Jan. 14 at Fort Sanders Sevier Nursing Home.
   Sims was a long serving licensed practical nurse in Sevierville and Sevier County.
   Her daughter, Anna Huskey, said she was not exactly sure when her mother began her duties as a nurse because it was before she was born, but it was in the 1930s or 1940s before Sevier County had any hospitals.
   “She wasn’t the first nurse, but she was one of the first for sure,” Huskey said. “She was right there when there when there weren’t very many of them.
   “She nursed at patients’ homes before there were any hospitals.”
   According to Huskey her mother nursed for days, nights, weeks and years for private duty.
   “It was for people that were very sick when they didn’t have nursing homes or hospitals back then for long term care,” Huskey said. “She was very good with them and she would work sometimes days and weeks without a vacation or a day off.
   “She was an extremely hard working lady and she normally would work graveyard shift, which nobody else would want to work.”
   Sims worked as a L.P.N. until the mid 70s, according to her daughter.
   “She never met a patient that she didn’t witness to the lord,” Huskey said. “She was interested in taking care of them here and knowing where their eternity would be.”
   Sims was also a faithful member of Parkway Church of God in Sevierville and served many residents through her duties, professional and private, as a licensed practical nurse.
   While residing at Sanders Sevier Nursing home Sims was quoted as saying while her nursing career was important to her, family and serving God were the most important things in her life.
   Staff members at Sanders Sevier said she touched many people with her compassion, prayers and kind spirit.
   According to Huskey, her mother’s favorite quote was, “Our life on earth soon will pass, only what is done for God will last.”
   Sims was preceded in death by her husband, William Charles “Bub” Sims; parents, Bates Smith and Mama Belle Walker; daughter, Freda Maples; brothers, Carl Smith and wife Ollie, and Stewart Smith; great-grandson Christopher Mark Sims.
   She is survived by son and daughter-in-law, Rev. John A. and Pat Sims; daughter and son-in-law, Anna R. and Bill Huskey; grandchildren, Rick Maples, Bridgette Morton, Melody Blum, Shawn Maples, John Patrick, Matthew, and Mark Sims, Maria Cutshaw, Brent Huskey; great-grandchildren, Megan, Mary, David and Noah Sims, Jason Maples, Jessica Livesay, Hans, Seth, and Joseph Ballew, Oliver Morton, Ryan Cutshaw, Alex Maples; great-great-grandchildren, Elijah and Madeline Belle Ballew, Chloe and Elijah Livesay, Bryson Maples; sister, Joyce Catlett; special niece, Betty M. Ogle and husband Ron.