Patsy Simes

Patsy R. Simes, a nurse in the Daytona Beach community for nearly 30 years, passed peacefully on June 10. She was 78. Born Patsy Patton in Tullahoma, Tennessee, she moved with her family to Orlando, Florida as a child. In 1959, Patsy left home to attend nursing school at the University of Florida in Gainesville, beginning a life-long passion of caring for others. From 1963-1968, she served as the lead nurse at the Uniroyal tire plant in Opelika, Alabama, caring for the day-to-day needs of more than a hundred factory workers. In 1968, Patsy moved to Daytona Beach. From 1968-1996, Patsy served as a labor and delivery and surgical nurse at Halifax Hospital. In this role, she met the love of her life, David L. Simes, a pillar of the Volusia County medical community for nearly four decades. After marrying in 1972, Patsy and David began an obstetrics, gynecology, and infertility practice serving thousands of women in the Central Florida area until their retirement in 1996. After retirement, Patsy and David spent nearly every moment together until his passing in 2013.

Patsy will always be remembered by those she touched as a talented nurse, a devoted wife, and a marvelous mother and grandmother with an endless capacity to care for those in need.

Patsy was preceded in death by her husband of 41 years, David; by her son, James; and by her brother, Buddy. She is survived by: her son, Clay Taylor, and his wife, Leslie; her son, Michael Simes, and his wife, Abigail; her step-children, Margie and David; 11 grandchildren; and her dear sisters, Ann and Linda. A small service for family and close friends will be held on Tuesday, June 16. Patsy's family asks that, in lieu of flowers, a donation be made to the Halifax Humane Society in her memory.