Longmont Daily Times-Call

Joanne Sue (Sims)FREY of Loveland, formerly of Longmont, died February 23, 2008, while on a cruise, in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico.

Joanne was born on November 13, 1934, in Windsor, Missouri to Joseph Sims and Phyllis Williams Sims.

Joanne was from Missouri, and spent her childhood years in Windsor and Warrensburg in the midst of a widely extended family.

Her family moved to Longmont in 1947, where Joanne graduated from Longmont High School in 1952. After a year at Colorado State University, she started her own family and devoted the rest of her life to the care of her children.

While she was working for the Longmont Public Schools, she met her husband Ed, who had moved to Longmont from the Chicago area in 1974.

They were married on May 15, 1975, in Cheyenne, Wyoming and shared the last 33 years of her life in Longmont, Grand Junction and Loveland.

Joanne will be fondly remembered for the joy and caring she brought into the lives she touched.

While she worked in many jobs throughout the years of raising her children, she will best be remembered for the loyal friendships she shared, her laughter and candor, and her love of life.

She was always faithful in recognizing the special events in the lives of her friends and extended family. No birthday, graduation, birth, or passing was left unnoticed. She established lifelong friendships and was always available to lend a helping hand and sympathetic ear to those who needed them. She was a skilled listener, and gave loving encouragement to those who were having difficulty finding their way. She was a gifted "mom," a delightful life partner, homemaker, and hostess and made new friends wherever she went.

In her retirement years, she loved to travel, especially on Holland America cruises, where she could kick back and enjoy the pampering while exploring new places and meeting new people.

She loved to read, write letters and spend time with friends and family. She made us all know that we were loved, appreciated and special to her. While we grieve her passing, we will celebrate having had her beside us as we shared a part of our life journeys.

Surviving are her husband Ed of Loveland, two daughters: Cindi Scherman and her husband David of Grand Junction and Gina Simmons and her husband Chaz of Anchorage, Alaska; a son Brian Howe of Thornton; stepchildren: Gretchen Frey and her husband Kern Buckner of Littleton, CO, James Frey and his wife Jackie of Dunstable, MA and Daniel Frey and his wife Ann of Garner, NC; a sister Kathy Ballinger and her husband Ben of Longmont; 12 grandchildren and two great-grandchildren.

Services will be held at 10:00 a.m. Saturday, March 1 at the Howe Mortuary Chapel, with Reverend Paul Frey of Trinity United Methodist Church, Anderson, SC officiating.

Contributions may be made to House of Neighborly Service, 565 N. Cleveland Ave., Loveland, CO 80537.