Mike Smith
Artesia Daily Press
msmith@currentargus.com

The late Gary Sims was honored Tuesday, Nov. 12, as the first recipient of the Gary Sims Award for service to the United Way.

The award was presented during a ribbon cutting for United Way Eddy County’s new Artesia headquarters at 605 W. Main St. Sims’ daughter, Anna Whitmire, accepted the award on behalf of the family.

“It’s very meaningful because my dad was a person who didn’t really like to be recognized,” Whitmire said, “but he did recognize that volunteering and giving back was really important. United Way was a way that he did that during his lifetime. He always enjoyed leading the fundraising cause and so United Way was near and dear to his heart. It’s an honor for his name to be at the top of that award.”

Kyle Marksteiner has been executive director of Carlsbad-based United Way of Eddy County for barely more than a year but said he is well-acquainted with the contributions to United Way that prompted creation of the award.

“I really thank the Sims family,” Marksteiner said. “As I have been coming up (from Carlsbad) … I hear so much about Mr. Sims and what he did for this community, and so to be able to kind of continue that legacy was a major honor.”

Sims, who died in April 2019 at the age of 68, was a longtime insurance agent with J.S. Ward and Son Insurance Agency. He served as president of the former United Way of Artesia board of directors and frequently acted as the organization’s “spokesperson,” reaching out to local businesses and community service groups to encourage support for United Way.

Whitmire said her father had time for anyone in the Artesia community.

“He never met a stranger,” she said. “He would listen incessantly to stories and he was interested in people’s lives and their kids and what was going on with their mom and their aunt and their uncle. He was very active in supporting all the sports teams.”

Mike Smith can be reached at 575-308-8734 or email at msmith@currentargus.com