Luberta W. Sims

Luberta Washington Sims peacefully went to be with her Lord and Savior on April 22, 2017 (Earth Day). She lived 98 active years. Born on August 5, 1918 in Yoakum, Texas, she was the youngest of 5 daughters of Robert (R.J.) Washington and Florence Payne. She graduated from Yoakum Colored High School and went on to matriculate at Tillotson College (now Huston Tillotson University) where she joined the Delta Sigma Theta sorority. She graduated from Tillotson with honors with a B.S. in Home Economics in 1941. After a short stint teaching at a high school in New Gulf, Texas, she returned to Tillotson as an instructor in home economics. Seeking a graduate degree in her chosen field, she was forced to leave the segregated Texas educational system and travel to New York City to study at Teacher’s College at Columbia University. She met and married Lawrence M. Sims, a fellow Texan who was in the U. S. Army, stationed at the United Nations. After Lawrence’s military career was over, the couple moved to New Haven, Connecticut, where they had two children, Robert and Glenda. When her marriage to Lawrence ended in the early 1960’s, Luberta went to work as a single mother, initially beginning as a nursery school teacher, then hiring on with Community Progress, Inc. (CPI), the nation’s first community-based anti-poverty agency as Supervisor of Home-Making Advisors. CPI served as a model agency in President Lyndon B. Johnson’s War on Poverty and is credited with starting Head Start, the Neighborhood Youth Corp., the Legal Services Program and the Comprehensive Manpower Training Program. CPI, and its successor agencies, went on to eventually serve over 400,000 New Haven residents. In 1968, Luberta moved on to work as a community home economist with the University of Connecticut Cooperative Extension Service, where she worked in New Haven and throughout the state, teaching community nutrition until her retirement in 1984. In 2005, she moved back to Texas, settling in Houston to be near her family. Throughout her life, Luberta enthusiastically served her community. She was a co-founder and a Golden Life Member of the Delta Sigma Theta New Haven Alumnae Chapter where, in 1995, she and another soror helped the sorority get involved with the Greater New Haven Habitat for Humanity organization. The sorority now holds a seat on the board of directors of that organization. She also worked to provide valuable resources to the local Grandparents Raising Grandchildren association and many other community organizations. In 1999, in furthering her efforts to help grandparents raise their grandchildren, Luberta testified before the Connecticut State Legislature’s Committee on Children pertaining to pending legislation regarding subsidies to guardians of children appointed by the Connecticut probate courts. She always remained a teacher at heart and her counsel was sought and cherished by those who knew her. Luberta was predeceased by her father and mother, beloved siblings Booker (Sammy) Washington, Eunice Dickerson, Maurice Washington, Effie Jewel Lee, Maude Washington, Eva Brown, and Fred Washington. She is survived by her children, Robert L. Sims (Jean) in Dallas and Glenda Moore (Doug) in Houston, her beloved nieces Sharon Brown (Harold), Jocelyn Payne and Jennifer Alabi (Busayo), her grandchildren Christopher M. Reid and Erika S. Tracey, her great-grandchildren Nala J. Reid and Paisley Reid, her godchild, Denise Brown, her precious cousin Letitia Plummer and many other extended family members and friends too numerous to name who were greatly touched by her sweet presence, wisdom and love.