After finding out that his son had been shot and killed, the Rev. James E. Simms said he needed the hugs and handshakes as much as anyone else Sunday morning at St. Paul Baptist Church in Point Breeze.
"To be in this whole atmosphere of love and concern is really something," he said.
Pittsburgh police said James C. Simms, 31, was shot shortly before 4 p.m. Friday in the 500 block of Euclid Avenue in East Liberty. Simms died from a gunshot wound to the head, according to the Allegheny County Medical Examiner's Office. He was pronounced dead at 6:45 a.m. Saturday at UPMC Presbyterian. No arrest has been made.
Rev. Simms has led St. Paul Baptist members for 32 years. He's presided at graveside funeral services. He's prayed with members in hospitals. He's married them. The church is a place of refuge for him as much as it is for the congregation, he said.
One by one yesterday, women in wide-brimmed hats embraced Simms at the back of the church. Men with weathered Bibles in their left hands offered a handshake. Toddlers tugged at Simms' legs.
"As a pastor, my members draw strength from me on how I handle my life," Simms said. "I got to be here on a day like this."
Simms said he didn't have any details on his son's death or why it could have happened.
"It could have been an argument, anything," he said. "People have devalued life so much."
Simms said James C. Simms lived in East Liberty with Brandis Thompson, the mother of his son, James, 2, and daughters Sydney, 4, and Skylar, 11.
Simms wasn't scheduled to deliver yesterday's sermon, but he said he spoke from the pulpit because he wanted church members to hear about the shooting from him.
"I told the congregation that parenting for me is one of the greatest joys God has given me," he said. "But I've never had this greatest pain before either."
Simms was on Allegheny County Council for four years, including a stint as council president. He left a city Intergovernmental Cooperation Authority board appointment in 2006 to work with Pittsburgh First, a coalition created by the Penguins, Nationwide Realty and Miss.-based casino company Isle of Capri. He pushed for the casino's unsuccessful bid to build a slot casino and hockey arena here.
Simms said his wife died three years ago from cancer, and his son took the death the hardest in the family. Simms said his son once told of feeling isolated and alone after Emma Jane Simms' death and that no one understood him as well as his mother.
Yesterday afternoon, Simms reminisced about his son's youth when he was an all-star baseball player. He said he could still see his son's range as a shortstop during a game in Robinson. Simms' corner jumper in basketball was his go-to shot late in the game, his father said.
Parents should teach vision and goals, Simms said. He compared it to being a farmer who sows seeds but has no control over the harvest. His son dreamed of finishing college and becoming a teacher and coach.
"That's a dream unfulfilled that now I won't see," he said.
The funeral tentatively is scheduled for Wednesday morning at St. Paul Baptist Church in Point Breeze under the direction of Spriggs & Watson Funeral Home, Homewood.
