Historical Survey: Reverend Harold John Sims, 1912 - 1994

 Reverend Harold John Sims

Harold John Sims was born in Tulsa, Oklahoma, July 7. 1912. He was the youngest son of W.H. Sims and Alice Parthenia McLean Sims. At the time of the Tulsa massacre, Harold was only 9 years old. It was not only a terrible tragedy for his community in the Greenwood District of Tulsa, but a personal family tragedy due to the disappearance of his mother in the riot. His father, Dr. W.H. Sims kept Harold with him in Oklahoma immediately following the race riots, even though he sent some of the older siblings to Abilene, Kansas. Subsequently, we find Dr. W.H. Sims, William Herny Albert and Harold John residing in Houston, Texas by 1930.

Harold married Emma Velva Johnson from Leesville, Louisiana, and together they produced 9 children; two did not survive infancy. The couple raised six boys and one girl together in Houston's historic Acres Homes neighborhood, as he worked spreading the gospel to Black United Methodist church congregations on his duty circuit. Harold was also a carpenter and provided carpentry services to neighbors, with the help of his sons. He also loved to make tamales. Reverend Harold J. Sims transitioned on Easter Sunday in 1994, just two months short of his 81st birthday. He is buried at Houston Cemetery in Hempstead, Texas. 

                                                                                                                                        Amma T. Sims

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