Gregory Sims

Gregory "Greg" John Sims, 56, left this Earth at his home on Friday, January 26, 2024.

Funeral services will take place at Heritage Funeral Home on Thursday, February 1, 2024, at 2:00 p.m. with fellowship and food to follow. Family will be present one hour before the service for visitation. 

Greg was born to William “Bill” Dale Sims and Marguerite “Rite” Marie (Kulhavy) Sims on Feb.8,1967 in Irving, Dallas, Texas.  The family moved to SD in 1976.

While growing up, Greg had many favorite activities that would shape him into the person he became. He would spend hours playing with and perfecting the arrangement of his ‘little people’ on the farm or airport or building towers from Legos or Tinker Toys. This was probably the beginning of making him into the tinkerer we all knew. 

He spent a lot of time with his family camping, fishing, and playing a good game of ping pong, pool, Sorry or Parcheesi – building his competitive spirit. This came in handy when he played sports such as soccer and baseball – attending soccer camps and playing on the traveling city soccer team. 

For many years, he and his family would travel to Albuquerque, NM twice a year for the 4th of July and Christmas to spend those holidays with his extended family. When there, you could find him crushing cans or burning trash with his grandfather, sneaking candy out of the kitchen with the aid of his grandmother, wandering the neighborhoods, exploring, with his cousins or playing card games with everyone around the table.

Greg’s role models growing up? Captain Kangaroo, Henrietta Hippo and Popeye – this one being the most influential in helping him gain strength in life. He admired Popeye so much that when he was about 4, he begged for a can of spinach at the grocery store. Not just any spinach, but the one with Popeye on the can. He got home and wanted a bite immediately. Then his face screwed up, hit spit it out and never ate spinach again.

He married Amy Lynn Kadinger on April 16, 1988 in Sioux Falls, SD.  The couple had 2 daughters: Haily Lynn Sims and Kristen Marie (Sims) Hoefert.

He would often ride his bike around town or ride it to the river to go fishing. He also loved drawing. As his Mother, Rite, would say, he was an amazing artist even as a kid.

On the weekends or holidays, he enjoyed going up to the Family Cabin on Lake Poinsett to spend time with his Father, Bill, fishing, golfing, and enjoying a few liquid refreshment on the patio.

Family gatherings and game nights were always an event he would look forward to, even though they would often get heated when he lost in a family favorite game of skit skat. 

If he wasn't with his family, he would spend a lot of his free time with close friends Dale and Troy (and many other friends that meant a lot to him).

Greg was full of knowledge on a variety of topics. You could ask him anything and he would know the answer. This skill won him countless daily prize-winning questions from the radio. In all reality, they probably knew his voice. We often joked he should go on a game show because no matter what the question, he would know the correct answer.

Besides becoming the father of Haily and Kristen, one of his happiest moments in life was becoming a Grandpa. Every Friday he would get off work early to go pick up his first Grandson, Taylor, from daycare to spend the day with him. They would go to the gas station and pick up some bug juice to go kick back and watch cartoons at Greg's folks’ place. His Mother, Rite, also enjoyed this day very much. It is safe to say that this was a day everyone looked forward to. 

When he was blessed with Preslee and Oliver, he continued to be the fun silly Grandpa they all loved very much. We have many videos and pictures of him playing and singing with the kids. He embraced the Grandpa role incredibly well and he was so proud of each of them. 

If you know Greg, you know his heart was big. He would help anyone out in need. Filling this void will be hard to overcome, but we will keep his memory alive by sharing stories, memories and living by the example he set

He is survived by: his parents: William and Marguerite; loving daughters: Haily (Dan Erfman); Kristen (Josh Hoefert); 3 grandchildren: Taylor James Erfman, Preslee Marie Hoefert and Oliver William Hoefert; a sister: Brenda Marie (Ione Johnson) Sims and a brother Jeffery Dale Sims; 2 nephews: Jamie William (Elle Score) Sims and Bruce William Sims, and a niece Gracelyn Marie Sims. 

Heritage Funeral Home is inviting you to a scheduled Zoom meeting.

Topic: Greg Sims
Time: Feb 1, 2024 02:00 PM Central Time (US and Canada)

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