TRIBUTE TO A HERO: HUNDREDS BID FAREWELL TO YOUNG DEA AGENT

A few weeks before his death, Drug Enforcement Agency special agent Stacy Sims received a commemorative poster signed by the DEA's director. It called Sims a "DEA Hero."

His parents, family and co-workers agree.

"I always told him that he was my hero," said his mother, Gayle Gorham of Jackson. "He was his daddy's hero and his brother's hero. Because of him and what he has gone through, he made all of us better people."

Sims, 31, of Jackson was buried Wednesday after losing a fight with skin cancer. He died Sunday, July 19, 1998.

"Today was a great tribute to Stacy," Gorham said Wednesday afternoon. "We did not realize how many lives he had touched."

He is the son of Ronald Sims of Caruthersville. His stepfather is Pat Gorham, an FBI special agent working out of Cape Girardeau.

The funeral procession was led by more than 40 law enforcement vehicles representing agencies from across the state. More than 700 people attended visitation Tuesday night.

Bill Hodges, resident agent in charge of the Cape Girardeau DEA office, worked with Sims.

"He did his job well and was very conscientious," Hodges said. "He came highly recommended. He was a fine young man and an outstanding agent."

At the cemetery, Sims brother Peyton, 14, was presented with the American flag from the casket. Peyton had a profound impact on Sims' career, his mother said.

Sims wanted to be a law enforcement officer from childhood. That desire became evident when Sims started college at Southeast Missouri State University. While a college student, he worked with the Pemiscot County Sheriff's Department and became involved with the Bootheel Drug Task Force.

A drug bust on the city square in Hayti sealed Sims' future fight against drugs. Among those Sims took into custody was a boy about 8 years old.

"When he saw that little boy he thought about his little brother," Gorham recalled. "He told me, `If I can stop just one child from selling drugs, I will have made a difference.' That was a big influence in his decision to continue to fight drugs."

He went to work with the SEMO Drug Task Force and for a time worked undercover in Sikeston. He worked with the Cape Girardeau County Sheriff's Department and graduated from Southeast Missouri State University.

"But it wasn't enough," his mother said.

Sims was accepted to the Missouri Highway Patrol Academy and worked for the patrol for two years.

"Then he had a chance to be interviewed by the FBI and the DEA," Gorham said. "Since drugs were his first interest, he went with the DEA."

Sims had just returned from the training academy when he had a mole removed from his shoulder. The mole was melanoma cancer.

Sims took his assignment with the DEA in California, but was soon transferred back to Cape Girardeau so he could receive cancer treatment. He worked out of the Cape Girardeau Federal Building and continued to work throughout his illness.

"He loved his work," Gorham said. "He never gave up that love for his work or for his fellow man. He touched the lives of so many people."

Often those who came to cheer up Sims, left feeling uplifted.

At the funeral Wednesday, DEA and FBI agents flew in from California and St. Louis. Missouri Highway Patrol representatives from across the state attended.

"We were very, very proud," Gorham said.

Sims told his mother he wanted a simple funeral. "This certainly was not simple," Gorham said. "But I know he was looking down, and I know how proud he was."