Darcie D. Sims, Ph.D. was a bereaved parent, grief management specialist and nationally recognized grief expert. She died unexpectedly in Puyallup, Washington on Friday, Feb. 28, 2014.
Darcie Sims was a dear friend of ours and one of a kind. She never ceased to amaze me. First of all she knew everyone in the grief world. She had talked with, planned with, been on boards with or spoken to everyone. She was a fountain of knowledge. Oh, could she tell stories and the stories were always wonderful and funny. She never belittled or made fun of people. She was a master at recognizing the ironies in life and was able to laugh along with you.
There are many pictures of Darcie hugging people but if you stop to notice it isn't Darcie hugging, it is people hugging her. It was typical of Darcie, allowing others to bathe in her beautiful strength and presence. She was a rock and a place of shelter to all who were suffering hurt and pain.
Darcie was a great platform speaker. Had she been interested in politics, she would have won for sure. She was a wonderful writer and a poet. She loved her family and spoke about them every time she picked up a microphone, and her partnership with Tony was impressive. I remember them working their booth together at the National Funeral Directors conference. What a great team. Darcie loved her daughter Alicia and her granddaughter Miss Darcie. You could tell she was honored to have her granddaughter named after her. I remember eating dinner with Darcie and Tony last year at Fisherman's Wharf in San Francisco. They talked with joy and pride about Miss Darcie and how much they loved and enjoyed having a teenage granddaughter.
I, for one, didn't think it was time for Darcie to leave us. We had so much more to learn from her wonderful experience and the ever-present inspiration and energy that guided her work. I guess "Big A" and the Big Guy in the sky had a different plan.
Darcie, thanks again for the little while we had with you and God bless.
We last saw Darcie when she was on our Television show "Grief Relief. Attached are clips from those shows.