Leola Rhodes Sims

Hartsville, S.C.

Mrs. Leola Rhodes Sims age 93 went to her Heavenly Home on January 5, 2026 while at the Legacy of Hartsville.

Funeral services will be held Wednesday at 1:00 at the Chapel of Norton Funeral Home. Rev. Jonathan Bradshaw and Rev. John Hamilton will officiate. Burial will be in the Darlington Memory Gardens. Visitation will be one hour prior to the service at the funeral home.

Mrs. Sims was born in Darlington a daughter of the late Jessie Leo Weatherford and Gerusha Annie Gibson Weatherford. She was a member of Emmanuel Baptist Church, retired from Dixie Cup after 30 years of service. She loved her church, her family and loved to work in her garden. She loved to read her Bible and would tell people that God had a little Black Book and he wrote everything down.

Surviving is one son, Doel S. (Joanne) Rhodes, Goose Creek, S.C.; two grandchildren, Doel Ryan Rhodes, Goose Creek, S.C. and Laura A. Privette, Hartsville.

In addition to her parents, she was preceded in death by her first husband, James Thomas (JT) Rhodes, Jr.; her second husband, Robert Edward Sims; and her son Joel Michael Rhodes.

Memorials may be made to the Emmanuel Baptist church Building Fund, 1001 North Marquis Highway, Hartsville, S.C. 29550.

Norton Funeral Home and Crematory is honored to serve the Sims family.