Robert F. Sims

Robert Francis Sims, 94, of Eustis, Florida, died on November 1, 2009. He was a communicant of St. Mary of the Lakes Catholic Church in Eustis, where he was active as an usher, as a member of the St. Vincent de Paul Society, the bereavement ministry, and as organist at the 7:30 Mass. He was born June 7, 1915, in Weston, Massachusetts, to the late Earl and Mary (O'Connell) Sims, and moved to Osterville, on Cape Cod, in 1926. He attended Barnstable public schools and graduated from Wentworth Institute of Technology in 1935. He and his wife Norma owned and operated the House and Garden Shop in Osterville. Bob served as president of the New England Hardware Dealers' Association and of the Osterville Rotary Club, and as a director of the Cape Cod Bank and Trust Co. He was a communicant of Our Lady of the Assumption Catholic Church in Osterville. He exhibited his oil paintings at the Cape Cod Art Association, Mount Dora Art League, and Eustis Art League. In Eustis, he was a member of the Irish American Society. Bob was predeceased by his wife Norma in 2007. He is survived by two daughters, Norma Sims Roche of Northampton, Mass., Barbara Sims Joly, of East Sandwich, Mass., and two grandchildren, Robert Sims Joly and Joanna Elizabeth Joly. A Funeral Mass will be celebrated at St. Mary of the Lakes Catholic Church on Thursday, November 5, 2009 at 9:00 AM. Burial will be at Greenwood Cemetery in Eustis. The family will receive friends at the Harden/Pauli Funeral Home, Eustis on Wednesday evening from 5-7 PM with the Wake at 6:30 PM. In lieu of flowers donations may be made to the St. Vincent de Paul Society of St. Mary of the Lakes Parish or to Habitat for Humanity of Lake County. Online Guestbook available at www.hardenpauli.com