Ascension County Louisiana Archives Obituaries.....Sims, Alice nee Kline - August 16, 1914
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File contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by:
Mary K Creamer marykcreamer@yahoo.com December 10, 2019, 11:34 pm

source: The Donaldsonville Chief. (Donaldsonville, La.) 1871 - current,
August 16, 1914, Image 3

Death of Mrs. E. K. Sims. - 

"Leaves have their time to fall,
And flowers to wither at the north wind's breath,
And stars to set, but all -
Thou hast all seasons for thine own, oh Death!"

These beautiful lines have come home to us in the fullness of their meaning; 
the feebleness and impotence of human effort when opposed to divine decree 
has once more been demonstrated, and again are our hearts wrung with sorrow 
and our our heads bowed with grief.

Relentless Death has collected a heavy toll and left in its wake saddened 
homes and a sorrowing community.

Just in the prime of young womanhood, with all that makes life most dear and 
worth the living - a devoted husband, loving children, fond parents, many 
warm friends, and a future suffused with the rose-glow of love and happiness 
stretching out before her, Alice Kline, beloved wife of Dr. E. K. Sims, was 
stricken down by the hand of death and her unsullied soul transported to 
that "undiscovered country" beyond the tomb.

In the ordinary course of human events the old must die and the young may 
die and pass from earth and its scenes forever. When an aged man, whose 
tottering feet have trod the allotted span of life, is gathered unto his 
fathers, we can but feel that death, like the harvester, is gleaning the 
ripened grain and claiming his own. But when the grim messenger comes and 
calls away a young woman, just entering the zenith of her charms and graces, 
pulsating with the sweet breath of life and awaiting the fruition of her 
dreams and hopes, we, without irreverence, are prone to feel that the Grim 
Reaper may have made a mistake, and that it were, perhaps, better had he not 
cut down at the threshold of life one so good and pure, so young and fair.

While we bow in humble submission to the will of an all-wise God, such 
thoughts unwillingly force themselves upon us when we contemplate the death 
of this noble young woman, who entered the Great Shadow last Saturday 
morning at the Touro Infirmary in New Orleans, whither she had been taken 
the previous afternoon for treatment. Before that dark hour which came 
stealing upon her out of the lonesome night everything possible had been 
done to avert the stern decree hanging over her, but the mandate of death 
was irrevocable and human effort proved powerless to stay the hand of the 
ebon-garbed destroyer.

The casket that held its fair burden of inanimate clay was brought to 
Donaldsonville Saturday evening, and a large throng of sorrowing friends and 
relatives who had assembled at the depot escorted the remains of the beloved 
lady to the home made desolate by her departure. The last services were held 
at the Episcopal church at 9 o'clock Sunday morning, Revs. Quincy Ewing, of 
Napoleonville, and R. H. Prosser officiating. In tones pulsating with 
emotion the impressive words of the burial service, throbbing with the hope 
of resurrection and breathing the prayer of eternal peace, were read by Rev. 
Ewing, and Rev. Prosser, with tear-dimmed eyes and trembling voice, 
pronounced the sweetly solemn benediction and invoked the blessing of 
everlasting rest upon the tender body that has passed to "silence and 
pathetic dust." "Lead, Kindly Light," and "Nearer, My God, to Thee," so full 
of sadness and melody, were sung by the choir to an organ and violin 
accompaniment which stirred the soul with the pleading of its plaintive 
chords and seemed to hover over the sacred bier with the ineffable 
tenderness and softness of angels' pinions.

The flowers were many and beautiful, but not more beautiful than the lovely 
face which rested so peacefully among them. Beautiful in life she was, and 
beautiful in death; but far more beautiful will she be on the glorious 
resurrection morn.

The last solemn rites over, the final farewells said, they who had loved her 
left her sleeping "under the wide and starry sky." Their hearts rent asunder 
and their souls deep in gloom, they turned sadly away from the sepulchre in 
the silent city of the dead, where the mystic stars keep lonely vigil and 
the whispering winds sing a requiem in the stillness of the night.

It is difficult to pay a fitting tribute to the memory of so noble a woman, 
one whose everyday life was embellished by the most charming and lovable 
attributes of her sex. She seemed born to inspire the love and respect of 
all who were so fortunate as to be acquainted with her. Gracious, 
unpretending, thoughtful of everybody but herself, her courtesy was not a 
thing of etiquette, but the natural expression of her nature. No one was 
more willing to aid the suffering, cheer the desponding, sustain the weak, 
no matter how meek and lowly they may be or how exalted; and when sickness 
and death came to her, as it comes to all, neighbors and friends vied with 
each other in acts of loving kindness, and many were the willing hands and 
hearts ready to assist him upon whom rested the heavy responsibility of 
attempting to fight back the ravages of disease and restored the loved on to 
health. A devoted, loyal wife; a tender, thoughtful mother; a dutiful, 
respectful child, and a steadfast, unselfish friend, she filled the full 
measure of a perfect woman and leaves behind her the priceless heritage of a 
life well lived and duty faithfully performed.

The deepest sympathy of a whole community goes out to the afflicted husband, 
parents, two manly young sons and a sweet little daughter. Through the shine 
or shadow of the years to come through the drift and drive of future events, 
may they be cheered and consoled by the ineffable influence, the invisible 
presence that comes of memory luminous with love, fragrant with faith.   


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