In tribute: Mickey Simms: A thrill-seeking soul

The words “rough and tumble” might come to mind for many who knew Mickey Simms. But those same people would likely also tell you he was someone with a sense of humor, whose heart was always in the right place.

“One of the big things that we’ve talked about and a lot of people in the community would tell you is Mickey could be hard to deal with, but they all respected him,” his son, Mitch Simms, said. “He was hard on us when he was raising us, there’s no doubt about it. But it made us better people and better fathers.”

Mitch Simms said when and he and his two brothers were growing up, they didn’t often question their father when they were told to do something.

“We’d just go do it,” Mitch said. “But if we did question something, he’d tell us, ‘Don’t question me. If I tell you a rooster can pull a freight train, just put the harness on it and trust me.’ I never knew where he got that from.”

Mickey Simms, a lifetime resident of Clovis, died on Feb. 17 at age 82. Survivors include sons Mitch, Gary and Gerald.

According to Mitch Simms, “there’s a lot of things in Clovis he had his hands in.”

Over the years, Mickey Simms owned Sasser’s Western Wear, K-Bob’s Steakhouse, the Spudnut Donut Shop, Sparklin’ Wash Car Wash and Wash-O-Mat Coin Op Laundries, among other ventures. He was also involved in ranching and farming over the years and was a long-time supporter of the Curry County Junior Livestock Sale and a member of the Curry County Mounted Patrol.

Gary Simms said his father was an electrician and an aircraft mechanic in the Navy where he served on the aircraft carrier USS Kitty Hawk.

“That’s (the Navy) where he learned a lot of his self-discipline and his mechanical knowledge,” Gary Simms said. “He could be a very serious, tough, hard individual, but he had to be. That’s how his generation grew up. But he instilled in us a work ethic and a sense of pride in doing something well. That’s how he brought us up was working in those businesses.”

Mitch Sims said he recalls as a small child making rounds with his father to a set of apartments he partnered in to do maintenance work.

“He could fix almost anything, and he’s kind of passed that down to me and Gary both,” Mitch said. “We’d be out there getting tools as he told us, ‘hand me that wrench’ and so on. He left his footprint all over town. You can drive around Clovis and say about all kinds of things, ‘He fixed that,’ or ‘He built that.’”

Gary Simms said his father always had a new joke - usually not a clean one, and he didn’t mind making a joke at his own expense.

“He was definitely somebody who wasn’t afraid to take risks,” Gary said. “He was very entrepreneurial. He was very family oriented. He would come across as a little brazen and would use a little more choice language than most, but anyone who knew him knew his heart was in the right place.”

Along with being a hard worker, Simms’ biggest attribute was his “thrill-seeking soul,” according to his sons, who both said he loved anything that went fast -- motorcycles, race cars, and boats. He traveled to Europe, the Caribbean, Canada, and all over the U.S. He had his airplane pilot’s license and a hot air balloon pilot’s license.

“He loved anything fast — anything that smelled like gasoline,” Mitch said. “So, when he went and got his hot air balloon license, my mom told him, ‘I just don’t get this. It doesn’t go fast.’ He said, ‘Yeah, but it goes high.’”

Gary Simms said among the many things he and his brothers learned from their father was “having a good sense of humor and being able to laugh at yourself; understanding that hard times don’t last and not tucking and running at the first sign of a challenge.” They also learned to “troubleshoot things and figure stuff out and don’t expect someone to do it for you,” Gary said.

“He took life by the reins and his determination to do things and really do it his way is what made him the man that he was,” Mitch said. “He was big in my life all of my life. One of the coolest things about it was the last 10 years is when he and I really became best friends. I didn’t always like him, but I always loved him, but all of that ironed out to us being best friends. I will definitely miss him; there’s no doubt about that.”