Sims, R. D. and Chloe

Lea County Families and Histories, "Then and Now", Vol II, 1984

Submitted by: Chloe Sims

     R. D. Sims is a native Lea Countian, having been born and raised on the ranch his father homestead. R.D.'s mother, Edy Belle May Sims, came to what is now Lea County with her family, the Henry Blair May's in 1908. At one tome there was a school and post office, both known as Henry on the ranch where we now live. R. D.'s grandfather, Henry B. May was the postmaster. R. D.'s father's family, the Mathew Pelam Sims came in 1909. They all took out claims southeast of Eunice, New Mexico.

     I, Chloe Slaton Sims, was born and raised on a farm in Dickens, Texas. I met R. D. while I was employed in the District Clerk's office in Brownfield, Texas when I came to visit my brother-in-law and sister, Floyd and Lona Adams, who lived on the Will Terry ranch southeast of Hobbs. R. D. lived on the Dunbar place which his Dad owned at that time. We were married on July 18, 1942, and our first home was the Dunbar Ranch where we lived until 1945 when we moved to our own ranch southeast of Eunice where we expect to live the rest of our lives.

     We  have four children, all started and finished school in Eunice. Betty Shawley, our oldest daughter, was the first baby born in Carlsbad, in 1945! She is the mother of our granddaughter, Tammie, who will graduate from Hobbs High School this year. They spent 16 months in the Philippine's during the Viet Nam War where David was a jet engine mechanic. That was a bad time for all of us.

     Floyd, our oldest son and his wife Cynthia, bought the home on the R. R. Sims ranch. Floyd had an outstanding record in track while in high school. He attended New Mexico Junior College and later Texas Tech. He was in the cattle trucking business for awhile, but a serious and costly accident by one of his drivers convinced him to sell his trucks and we all breathed a sigh of relief. He and Cynthia Pierce were married May 18, 1974.

     Martha, our youngest daughter, married Tome Cone July 21, 1973. They are parents of our grandson Randy, who is six, and twin granddaughters, Kayla Leann and Karen Lynn, born June 13, 1983. They ranch near Jay, Oklahoma where they have just completed a beautiful new home. Martha is a graduate of Sul Ross University.

     Our youngest son, Bill, still lives at home and tends to much on the ranch since D. D. suffered a stroke in 1980. Bill also attended Sul Ross and was employed as a yard foreman for Lea County Livestock Company for ten years. He ranches for himself now and trains horses and ropes in his spare time. He is well known for his ability to ride and train horses, and has just recently started "trippin' steers.

     R.D. and I organize both Eunice Roping Club and Eunice Junior Rodeo and were active in both for many years. We also helped organize Eunice Old Timer's Association and later Eunice Old Time fiddling contest. R. D. was president for 18 years and I have been secretary since 1960. We also owned and operated Victory Feed Store from 1957 to 1972. We made many friends while in the feed business, and R. D. still gets calls from people wanting to know what to do for their sick animals. R. D. spent a lot of hours in the saddle on various ranches in Lea County, but mostly the San Simon.

     Our lives have been ordinary ranch lives, good years, bad years, drought, sandstorms, too much rain, but mostly too little rain! But through it all we know one thing for sure, ranch life has brought us many, many wonderful friends and we are proud to be part of it, and no matter where we go it's always so nice to get back home and the ranch at Eunice, New Mexico.