Gilbert Sims

Arcadia - A memorial service to honor the life of Gilbert R. Sims will be held on October 10, 2015, at Rose Neath Funeral Home in Arcadia. Visitation will be from noon until 2:00 p.m. With the service starting at 2:00 p.m.

Gilbert was born January 2, 1938, in Minden, LA to Lester Dee and Helen Hanks Sims He went to his heavenly eternal rest on October 2, 2015, at the age of 77 after a battle with cancer that he faced with grace and courage.

Preceded in death by his parents, one infant son, and son Gregory Scott Sims. He leaves behind to cherish his memories his \"sweet bride\" of over 28 years, Jan; two daughters, Amy Sims Bourgeois and husband Gary, and Cheri Jones; one son, Rhett Sims, and step-son, Luke Perkins and wife Jessi; seven grandchildren: Landon Bourgeois, Madison Griffith, Braedon Bourgeois, Gabbi Jones, twins Linkin and Rayne Perkins, and Vincent Buchenberger; numerous other beloved family members and friends.

His early life revolved around horses and cows on the family land at Sugar Creek in Claiborne Parish where he enjoyed roping, herding, and bull riding. He gave his life to The Lord at an early age, and was a lifetime member of Mount Olive Baptist Church in Crossroads, LA. After high school, he attended LA Tech University for a short while before joining the 101st Airborne Division of the United States Army.

Gilbert worked the majority of his life as a self-employed welder. His work took him from Alaska to Florida and many points in between. He made friends wherever he worked, and eventually became widely known as a welder whose work could be trusted to hold whatever it was meant to hold.

Besides work, he was an avid outdoorsman. He hunted elk on foot and on horseback in Colorado, antelope in Texas and Colorado, mule deer in west Texas, and white tail deer in Louisiana. He enjoyed quail hunting (especially with his cousins Blake Sims and Kent Winberry and with his Uncle Buck Sims). After wild quail became scarce in Louisiana, he decided to hunt other feathered critters: doves, ducks, pheasants, and crows: doves close to home; ducks along the Louisiana Flyway; pheasants in Iowa and Kansas; and crows anywhere and everywhere. He and his crow hunting buddy, Ken Ogden, have turned it into a fine art over the years of their friendship, relieving pecan orchards and other places of thousands of crows. Besides crow hunting, his yearly trip during the last week in October to the Platt River Sports Complex in Mount Ayr, Iowa, to hunt ducks and pheasants was the highlight of his hunting year. Joe Routh and his extended family and friends accepted Gilbert into their family with such warmth and love that he has made the trip almost every year for the last twenty-plus years.

Gilbert spent the last twenty-eight years with his best friend, soulmate, and love of his life, Jan. They traveled widely together, shooting sporting clay courses wherever they went. He was, and she continues to be, lifetime members of the NRA and the NSCA (National Sporting Clays Association). They both became Level I Instructors for the NSCA, going on to teach others the sport they both love. He made hundreds of friends at sporting clay events throughout the years.

Gilbert loved life. He was a small man that cast a big shadow. He was the epitome of a \"southern gentleman.\" He was gentle when needed, but fierce if he felt he or his had been disrespected. He shared hugs profusely, always had a kind word or words of wisdom to share, and once he accepted you, you were his friend forever.

For Gilbert, every day was a good day--even during his fight with cancer; a fight he fought on his own terms. He left his earthly home while in the arms of his loving wife straight into the arms of his loving Savior. He lived a full life, and he wants everyone to know \"he had a good ride!\" He will be dearly missed.