Obituaries

Kitty Myrle (Norlin) Sims, age 94, of Stalwart, Michigan, after one last valiant vigil, quietly slipped away to her Heavenly Home on April 12, 2023, at MyMichigan Medical Center (War Memorial Hospital) of Sault Ste. Marie, as her Pastor Don and Shannon Bishop sang Mansion Over The Hilltop over her. A blessed tribute to a long life of wide impact. Kitty was born in Stalwart on March 24, 1929, eldest of three siblings, to Otto and Ethel (Izzard) Norlin.

Kitty grew up on a Stalwart pioneer farm, attended Tripp School, graduated from Pickford High School in 1946, and then attended The NE School of Commerce Business College in Bay City, Michigan. On August 16, 1950, Kitty married her high school sweetheart, Robert Frederick “Bob” Sims, at the Pickford Presbyterian Church. Having come to faith in Christ early in life through Youth Meetings at the fairgrounds community building, she invested her whole life into her family and God’s kingdom, and helped provide by working as a school secretary, at Watson’s Shoe Store, and at McDonald Realty, while raising their family. For many years, Kitty and Bob also farmed the Michigan Centennial Farm that Bob’s grandfather pioneered, and his uncle had farmed before them.

Kitty had always been an active member of the Stalwart Presbyterian Church, now Stalwart Community Church, making a positive difference in so many lives by serving through the years as pianist and organist, Sunday school teacher, Vacation Bible school teacher, Youth leader, producer of the famous Christmas programs and plays, and as the community coveted homemade-donut Halloween treat maker. She also owned a 60+ year record as a key force of the well-loved Stalwart Fair Dinners, serving as the pie-making queen for its closing years. Kitty also touched the world through membership in Women Today, Gideons International, Pickford-Soo Camp, and the Chippewa County Farm Bureau for years. For more than 20 years, she served on the Board for Northwoods Christian Camp as its co-secretary/treasurer. She loved missions and supported many gospel servants, and, with Bob in retirement, volunteered three summers of help at Alaska Bible College. Highlights of travel with Bob were a three-week tent camping tour out West with the family, Hawaii, the many falls of the U.P. one summer, and a beloved trip to Israel. Kitty enjoyed playing the piano and organ, singing as a family, quilting, Bible and book reading, flower gardening, camping, traveling, and her widespread card ministry through which so many have been blessed year upon year.

Kitty is survived by: one daughter, Marlene (Randall) Blanchette of Twin Lake, Michigan; one son, David (Gayle) Sims of Lowell, Michigan; eight grandchildren, April (Tony) Vandenbosch, Melody Blanchette, Shelley (Matt) Rose, David Aaron (Bekah) Sims, Elizabeth Sims, Sarah (Aaron) Venturini, Ryan (Robyn) Sims, Randy (Lindsey) Sims; eleven great-grandchildren with another on the way; and sister, Elsie (Dorsey) Klier, of Greenville, Michigan.

She was preceded in death by her husband, Bob Sims; daughter, Kitty Lee Sims; son, Paul Sims; parents, Otto and Ethel Norlin; brother and sister-in-law, Fred (Marian) Norlin; brothers-in-law, Marshall Cruickshank and Larry Pomarius; sister-in-law, Elizabeth (Cruickshank) Pomarius; and brothers-in-law, Jim Dorsey and Leonard Klier.

Kitty’s temporary resting place will be interment at Stalwart Cemetery, in Raber Twp, Michigan, following a memorial gathering to be scheduled later in the year.

Memorial Contributions in her memory may be sent to one of the following ministries close to her heart: Stalwart Community Church, 8089 M-48, Goetzville Michigan 49736; Gideons International, 12025 S. Hay Lake Rd., Sault Ste. Marie, MI 49783, or Northwoods Christian Camp, 1574 E Northwoods Rd, Pickford, MI 49774.

Galer Funeral Homes & Cremation of Pickford, Michigan, is serving the family. Condolences may be left to the family at www.galerfuneralhomes.com.