TYLER, Texas — Editor's Note: The above video was published on April 4, 2023.
Smith County commissioners on Tuesday approved a resolution naming April 13, 2023 as "John Sims Day" to honor the longtime East Texas radio newsman who passed away after a crash in March.
Sims, 70, died overnight March 31 after he was struck by vehicle on March 28 while walking near his home and suffering a severe brain injury, according to police and KTBB owner Paul Gleiser said.
He was laid to rest last Thursday, April 13 following a memorial service at First Christian Church in Tyler.
Sims, who worked for the KTBB Radio station in Tyler since 1998, spent more than 45 years in radio, according to his KTBB biography. He spent 43 years of his career in East Texas.
“This community was his family,” KTBB Account Executive Lonnie Johnson said in commissioners court. “It was always obvious but upon his death, it became even more obvious.”
Sims was involved in several community organizations like the League of Women Voters, the March of Dimes, the Tyler Church and Community Network and East Texas Wheelers and Walkers (a fellowship and advocacy group for people with spinal cord injuries).
Former Pct. 1 Commissioner Jeff Warr, who met Sims while Warr was a candidate for Tyler City Council in the 1990s, said Sims was a good reporter who just reported the facts.
“John was such a unique individual," Warr said. “He was such a high-quality person."
Smith County Judge Neal Franklin recalled also meeting Sims as a candidate for Tyler fire chief and was nervous about interviews, but Sims calmed him down.
“He was such a special guy,” Franklin said. “He will definitely be missed by the community.”
Precinct 2 Commissioner John Moore, who worked with Sims during his radio career, said Sims was really one of the last true journalists that he was able to work with.