Martha Harrison Sims

Martha Harrison Sims,70, died on Thursday, February 10, 2011 at local Nursing Home in North Richland Hills, Texas, where she had resided for the past two years. Memorial service: Per Martha's wishes, a private memorial service will be held later this year in Otisfield, Maine, on Thompson Lake. Martha was born on March 24, 1940 in Rahway, New Jersey to Ellen and Edgar Harrison. Martha married Laurence Sims in 1960 and the two settled in Arkansas in 1967. In Arkansas, Martha turned her loves for reading and children into an inspiration for many young readers while she presided over the children's branch of the Tri-Lakes Regional Library in Hot Springs, Arkansas. She was passionate about gardening, especially daylilies, and always wanted to have flowers blooming year round inside and outside of the house. Her hobbies included swimming, golfing, cooking, knitting, sewing, and hiking with her beloved dog Buster. Although she lived in Arkansas for nearly 40 years, she never forgot her New England roots and spent her best summer vacations with her family on Thompson Lake in Maine. The days were spent swimming in the lake and sunning on the dock; evenings were spent boiling lobster for dinner. Martha moved from Arkansas to the Dallas- Fort Worth area in 2006. In her later years, after being slowed down by the cumulative effects of multiple strokes that began to occur in 1993, she focused her attention on jigsaw puzzles, dominoes, bingo, spending time with friends, and doting on her grandchildren. Memorials: Fond memories of Martha and condolences for the Sims family can be left at Martha's memorial page at www.legacy.com. In lieu of flowers, the Sims family requests that you consider making a memorial donation to the American Stroke Association (www.strokeassociation.org). Martha would ask that you read a book to a child today. Martha was a loving mother and grandmother and will be dearly missed by her family and friends. She was predeceased by her parents Ellen and Edgar Harrison, siblings Jean Randall and Richard Harrison, husband of 40 years, Laurence Sims, and son Richard Sims. Survivors: sister, Margaret Harrison; son and daughter-in-law, Michael and Andrea Sims; grandchildren, Matthew and Lauren Sims; daughter and son-in-law, Beth and Harold Roberts.