Lillian B. Sims

Mrs. Lillian Sims died peacefully Friday; Jan.15th.She was 90 years old. Born in Brooklyn, NY in 1920 to Mildred Williams and Wellington Campbell, Lillian grew up during the hardship of the Great Depression. To help her family she became a child performer, singing and reciting poetry on the radio and dancing ballet and tap in a performing troupe called Hilda Norton's Juveniles. Lillian also modeled for the Sears-Roebuck catalogue. In 1938 Lillian graduated from Millburn High School having distinguished herself as a talented dancer and great student. She loved to invite her classmates to her Grandmother's house where they would move the furniture, roll up the carpet and dance the night away. Shortly after High School, Lillian married Charles Lambert Baxter. She had been dating his brother, Caleb when they met. Although she attended secretarial school, she taught ballet for several years before devoting all her time to her husband and two daughters, Susan and Katharine. Charles was the Vice President of Electron Technology Inc., Kearny N.J., where he developed applications for cathode vacuum tubes, among these for the Apollo Space Program. Lillian was a master seamstress, c...[more]

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ting beautiful costumes for her daughters for their own ballet and figure skating recitals. In addition she was an excellent cook and expert gardener. At the family's summer home in Prudence Island, R.I. Lillian built a 35ft. long stone wall and rescued old chairs from the dump, refinishing and re-caning their seats. She performed many of the repairs on the summer cottage with such aplomb and meticulousness her husband would comment that Lillian may've made a better engineer than himself. After being widowed in 1972, Lillian married Albert R. Sims, a family friend at Prudence Island. A graduate of M.I.T, Mr. Sims was employed at Air Force Cambridge Research Lab at Hanscom Field in Bedford, Ma. Mr. Sims four grown daughters were a welcome addition to this family. After retirement the Sims' moved to Englewood, Fla. where they continued to enjoy living near the beach. They participated in their neighborhood's crime watch, gardened and bird watched. They particularly loved the scrub jays that would perch on their hands to eat peanuts. The Sims traveled extensively in the U.S. and to Europe and Central America. Two of Albert's daughters and one of Lillian's moved to Florida to be near them. Mr. Sims passed away in 2007 having lived to be nearly 100 years old. Lillian would often say she was "unbelievably lucky" to have had two 35 year marriages to two such wonderful men. She is deeply and sadly missed. Lillian Sims is survived by her daughter, Katharine Koterski, of Orrtanna, Pa, Katharine's husband Lt. Col. James Koterski U.S. Army , her grandson Leo, and granddaughter Ens. Charlotte Looby U.S. Navy; David Faust of Port Charlotte, Fla.,husband of daughter Susan (deceased Aug. 2010), stepdaughter Rev. Judith Roberts of Englewood and stepdaughter Johanna Leftwich and husband Ardys of Rotonda West. ,