By Claire Martin
The Denver Post
Copyright 2006 The Denver Post
All Rights Reserved
Ruben Lewis Sims Jr., who died of cancer Sept. 11 at age 56, acted as the vanguard who broke the color barrier at the Aurora Fire Department, becoming the institution’s first African-American firefighter.
Born Nov. 11, 1949, to Vivian Fae and Ruben Lewis Sims Sr., he graduated from Manual High School and later attended the Berklee College of Music. He was in fifth grade when he displayed an aptitude for playing the clarinet, advancing swiftly from beginner to first chair at Smiley Junior High School, and then joining the Junior Police Band.
During his service with the Army, he wrote music for the NORAD band, which included musicians from the U.S. Army, Navy, Air Force and the Royal Canadian Air Force. He took first place in a competition for composing and writing songs with parts for each instrument in the band.
In 1977, two years after his honorable discharge from the Army, he joined the Aurora Fire Department.
“He talked quite a bit about different types of hazing that went on, and the racist remarks he got,” said Chris Henderson, a battalion chief with the department. “Even with him being the first, there are still very few African-Americans in the department. So when I came on, and I’m African-American as well, he kind of took me under his wing, showed me how to get along and all that.”
Sims weathered the cruelties visited upon him by his firefighting brethren and members of the public startled to see a black man in a firefighter’s uniform.
When he was promoted to engineer, Sims was the first African-American many Aurora children saw behind the wheel of a fire truck. He became an annual feature at the
Juneteenth Parade and Black Arts Festival, waving cheerfully from the driver’s seat.
As the city of Aurora became increasingly diverse, with more residents who were African-American, Latino, Asian-American and other racial minorities, the hostilities lessened. Sims got involved in recruiting programs intended to create a department that more accurately reflected its hybrid community.
“He never had a problem relating to people,” Henderson said. “Everyone considered him a good guy. He could relate to people from all backgrounds.”
Other firefighters on Station 2’s B shift raved about Sims’ cooking. His red beans and rice, and fried catfish, remained legendary at the station house, even after Sims retired in 1997.
Sims was among the few who attended both afternoon and evening sessions of the 40-day prayer vigil held several years ago at Mount Gilead Baptist Church. Diagnosed with cancer in 2003, he still managed to care for his frail nonagenarian mother and help toilet-train his twin granddaughters.
Survivors include wife Lawana Trowell Sims of Centennial; sons Chauncey Eugene Sims, Shelley Jabar Sims and Jamey Ruben Sims Jr., all of Denver; mother Vivian Sims Smith of Denver; sisters Sherry Lewis of Denver and Linda Mudd of California; and eight grandchildren.