Joanne Carmen Sims

Joanne Sims passed away April 29, 2019. She is preceded in death by her husband, Ronald Robert Sims.Joanne is survived by her mother, Minnie Bell Clark; sons, Kennie (Lesa) Sims and Jason Sims; grandchildren, Kevin Sims and Leslie Paige Sims.

Joanne Carmen Sims was born in Greensville North Carolina on March 9th to Minnie Bell Clark. Joanne believed that a real woman never shares her age, therefore we will only mention the day; not the year of her birth. She had two sisters that preceded her in death: Erma Ardell Moore and Olga Delouis Little Williamson.

Joanne graduated from Allen High School in Asheville, North Carolina. While at Allen she began a love affair for sports, mathematics and reading. She competed on the basketball and softball teams. Joanne attended North Carolina A&T in Greensboro, North Carolina where she aspired to become an architect.

After North Carolina A&T, Joanne moved to Atlantic City to become a waitress, where she met her husband of nearly fifty years, Ronald Robert Sims of Westminster, Maryland. Ron met Joanne while serving in the Army at Fort Dix. The two decided to wed and relocate to Harlem, New York, where they began their lives together. While in Harlem, they both found meaningful work at Brownell Inc., located in midtown Manhattan. Joanne worked in the finance department and Ron worked as a shipping clerk.

In 1970, the Sims family moved from Harlem to Hollis, Queens where Ron went on to manage residential properties, including Woodhull Apartments and later Lefrak City.

Joanne continued her work supporting major companies by filling different bookkeeping responsibilities throughout her career. She worked for several large New York based firms as Andrews Nelson Whitehead (paper), Edward S Gordon Company (commercial realty) and Clarion Partners (now known as ING).

Joanne was the co-owner of the catering company, A Taste of Honey. She was known to offer dishes from any different ethnicities and cultures. Her love for cooking began at a young age when she learned from her Grandmother and Great Aunts.

Her son Jason was an athlete. Ron and Joanne encouraged and supported Jason’s activities. Jason was on the swim team, karate team, football team, baseball team, golf team, tennis team. Where did they find the time? Her son Kennie pursued a career in professional golf.

Her greatest love was for her grandchildren, Kevin and Leslie. As Ron’s health began to fail in 2009, Grandma and Grandpa decided that Tampa would become Joanne’s new home. Cooking for her family and friends got her out of bed most days. Because Joanne displayed her love through food.