Simms, Lacy, 1886-1982.

Lacy Simms was born June 17, 1886 in Sulphur Bluff, Texas to Dr. Jesse Mercer Simms and Anna Lacy Simms. Dr. Simms worked as manager of a cotton gin in Sulphur Springs, Texas. As a young boy, it was Lacy's job to bring his father's lunch to him. One day he went to the room where his father oversaw the machines and while his father was out of the room tried to replicate his father's job. His hands were mangled in the machinery and his arms had to be amputated between the wrist and elbow. Lacy's father always insisted he learn to do everything himself after his accident and Lacy became self-sufficient very quickly. In 1905, the Simms family moved to Three Rivers, New Mexico for Dr. Simms' health. Unfortunately, he died in 1908. Lacy began a career in education in 1905, teaching 5th and 6th grade in Alamogordo, New Mexico. He then taught for three years at the elementary school in Three Rivers. Lacy served as superintendent of Otero County for two terms, with a hiatus between terms to attend college at Oberlin College in Ohio, graduating in 1915. In 1917, Lacy married Marcia Holmes, a teacher at the New Mexico Baptist College in Alamogordo, with whom he would have three children. In 1920, Lacy started at the McCormick Presbyterian Seminary in Chicago, Illinois and was ordained in 1923. He spent the next 13 years ministering to Spanish speaking immigrants in Chicago. The Simms then went to San Antonio, Texas in 1933-1939 and then to San Francisco, California from 1939-1941. In January, 1941, the family went to El Paso, Texas, and then back home to Alamogordo for 5 years, from 1942-1947. The family then returned to Chicago from 1947-1952. Simms finally retired and the family returned to Alamogordo in 1952. Lacy's first wife Marcia died in 1961. On June 17, 1963, he married an Oberlin classmate, Edith H. Kingsley. Lacy continued to serve the community through work with the Otero County Child Care Center after his retirement. Simms died in 1982.

From the description of Lacy Simms papers, 1907-1979. (New Mexico State University). WorldCat record id: 60822365

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