Joseph Norman Mims

Joe Mims, 78, passed away on March 1, 2026 after a battle with cancer. Joe was born to Joseph Edgar and Inez Benson Mims on August 24, 1947. After attending Robert E. Lee High School and earning his BS and Masters in mechanical engineering from Rice University, Joe went on to work in the oil business at the beginning of his career and then as a project manager for a NASA contractor for several undertakings, which included, among others, a Mars lander as well as a space station treadmill and refrigerator.

Joe was a fiercely competitive man who found great fun neither in a trophy nor notoriety but in the win itself. Most nights with his children involved a card or board game, which he didn’t believe in throwing once his children had been sufficiently taught the concept and a few tactics of the game in question. While at Rice, Joe paid for his books each semester with poker winnings and went to the Texas state bridge championship with his bridge partner, Doc C. He was also the captain and quarterback of the intramural football team and captain of the intramural baseball team. The year following his graduation, the intramural football team was dubbed Mims’s Legacy in his honor. However, the accomplishment in which he most frequently reveled was spelling down all the girls in the third-grade spelling bee.

Joe’s greatest pleasures were in simple things – a chat in the living room with his wife and children; a completed crossword; a light breeze, blue skies and a good score during a round of golf; a good pun; an Astros, Rockets, Rice, Aggie or Notre Dame win; a cold beer; or a good book.

He was a loyal and devoted husband and father. Joe loved Nory, his wife of 42 years, deeply. They were a unit – he was the early to her late, quiet to her garrulous and she was able to brief him on the names and details of acquaintances ahead of any social event. They were, as Joe was apt to say, simpatico.

Joe is predeceased by his parents Joe and Inez Mims and his sister Kathy Mims. He is survived by his wife, Nory Mims, and his three children Nicholas (Saree) Mims, Elizabeth (Alex) Slawsby and Anne (Will) Reese as well as his ten grandchildren – Ava, Bree, Scarlett, Cameron, Grace, Honoria, William, Liberty, Emma and Margaret. He is also survived by his siblings (Pam Mims, Paul (Kathy) Mims, Susie (Fred) Fairs, Don (Marty) Mims, Peter (Martha) Mims and Laurie Mims). The Mims family is incredibly appreciative of the support, guidance and friendship of Dr. Fahim Farhat through Joe’s illness as well as the care of his home aide, Wendy Zetino, and the steady comfort and guidance of his hospice nurse, Tricia Valentine, in his final days.

A memorial service will be held at St. Angela Merici Catholic Church at 9009 Sienna Ranch Road, Missouri City, Tx 77459 on Friday, March 20th at 11:00 AM. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to VICTORY Houston, Inc. (www.victory-houston.org) or a charity of your choosing.