Featured obituary: Mr. John Sims Sr.

If Patricia Harris had to guess where her father, John Sims Sr., was these days, she'd probably say he was tossing his line into the biggest fishing pond he could find in Heaven.

"He loved fishing," Mrs. Harris said. "He would fish all day long. Used to be, the only way we could get him to leave (the water) was by dumping his bait out."

Mr. Sims, 77, of Augusta, died Saturday at St. Joseph Hospital. The funeral will be at 4 p.m. today at Hale Street Baptist Church with the Rev. James D. Kendrick Sr. officiating. Burial will be in Walker Memorial Park.

Mr. Sims had always shared his hobby with his family, his daughter said. And the family was sometimes hard pressed to finish all the fish he caught.

"He used to take me and my sisters and my brothers," Mrs. Harris said. "He would go every weekend, wherever he could go. We had a lot of fish and grits."

Mr. Sims, a native of Burke County, had retired from Goldberg Recycling, where he shredded copper for a living.

"It was hard work," his daughter said. "But he loved his job."

But family always came first for Mr. Sims.

"He was a hard-working and loving Christian man," Mrs. Harris said. "He was strict with us, but he was strict because he always wanted us to make it."

Additional survivors include four other daughters, Betty Ann Sims, Mary Sims, Elizabeth Sims and Essie Price; four sons, Rufus Young, Johnny Sims, Jake Sims and Sewey Sims; a sister, Ida M. Johnson Bostic; and several grandchildren and great-grandchildren.

Reach Jennifer Hilliard at (706) 823-3220 or jennifer.hilliard@augustachronicle.com.