Ben W. Sims

News Obituary Article

Ben W. Sims, 99, expert on flowers, Southeastern plants

By HOLLY CRENSHAW

Ben W. Sims' legacy rests in pockets of peacefulness that mute the harsh clatter of urban progress.

An expert on azaleas, rhododendrons and native Southeastern plants, he turned his Buckhead home into a lush reminder of what the South once felt like, then sold it at a fraction of its value to save it from developers.

He commissioned noted artist Athos Menaboni to create elegant paintings of Georgia birds, then donated them to the Atlanta History Center in memory of his first wife, Margaret Demmon Sims.

And a stroll around the center's grounds reveals more of his graceful spirit. He pushed to get its Frank A. Smith Rhododendron Garden finished, then founded its Cherry Sims Asian American Garden as a tribute to his second wife, Rebecca Cherry Sims.

"His generosity and love of gardening helped transform the Atlanta History Center into a garden oasis in the middle of Buckhead," said Jim Bruns of Crabapple, the center's president and chief executive officer. "And the gardens complement each other beautifully," he said.

Mr. Sims, 99, of Punta Gorda, Fla., died Sept. 16 of complications from dementia at Charlotte Harbor Health Care in Port Charlotte, Fla. The body was donated to the University of Florida.

The memorial service will be 11 a.m. Saturday at the Larry Taylor Funeral Home in Punta Gorda.

The retired Lockheed Aircraft Corp. administrator was born in Rome and graduated from Birmingham-Southern College in 1947.

In the '40s, he acquired 17 acres of land on Mount Paran Road.

Over time, the rustic three-room cottage he called home and its assorted outbuildings were barely visible behind Mr. Sims' handiwork of statues, goldfish ponds and countless varieties of plants and flowers.

Former neighbor Gloria Early of Atlanta said, "He would make a point to bring wonderful fresh lettuce from his garden around to us neighbors in a basket."

That generosity spoke to Mr. Sims' nostalgia for his property's past. Stuffed in the board-and-batten walls, he discovered newspapers from 1870 and became fascinated with the cabin's history.

"Folks sat on the front porch," said Mr. Sims in a 1998 Atlanta Journal-Constitution article. "They liked to visit with whoever went by. Strangers were even invited to eat and spend the night."

That serenity slipped away in 1989, when an itinerant gardener he had invited for lunch brutally beat Mr. Sims and his second wife in their other house on West Paces Ferry.

She was an equally accomplished gardener known for her Asian plant expertise and had been married to Mr. Sims less than two years. She died from her injuries and Mr. Sims, who was 81 at the time, barely survived.

Years later, he was still reluctant to talk about the incident. He remarried and continued to live on his Mount Paran property, then sold it to neighboring Holy Spirit Catholic Church in 1998 and moved to Punta Gorda a few years ago.

His friend Willis Harden said the rustic cabin was oddly out of scale with its McMansion-filled surroundings but a perfect fit for Mr. Sims, who collected Joel Chandler Harris books and found solace in classical music.

"He was a genteel person and very much the Southerner, a soft-spoken person who didn't impress himself very much," said Mr. Harden of Commerce.

"He was one of my favorite people, and I'm kind of particular. I don't like just anybody, but I couldn't find a thing to not like about him."

Survivors include his wife, Rebeca Lucero Avendano Sims of Punta Gorda; a sister, Catherine Anville Sims of Birmingham; two stepdaughters, Kena Alonso of Punta Gorda and Carmen Wilson of Pinehurst, N. C.; and a stepson, Claudio Avendano of Atlanta.

© 2006 The Atlanta Journal-Constitution