Mary Janice Sims was born to Cecil Leslie Sims and Mildred Menkemeyer Sims in Wichita, KS on July 15, 1937 as the youngest of four children. Mary attended Wichita East and then Wichita North before taking her considerable twirling talents to Wichita State University. While there, she enjoyed her Pi Kappa Psi (aka Gamma Phi Beta) sorority sisters and was fixed up on a blind date with a shy airman from McConnell AFB, Talmadge J.P. Mross, who hailed from the cotton fields of Arkansas. Their decision to elope and marry on April Fool's Day 1957 was a shocker (WSU pun intended) but not the last time they would do the unexpected. Mary was an excellent cook, voracious reader and athletic even though she played no sports in school. She could expertly slalom ski on water and snow and was known to take one foot out of the water ski stirrup and use it hold the tow rope with her toes. The USAF took them to Topeka, then Japan, then Tucson AZ before returning to Wichita where they remained. Mary and JP loved to go camping, boating, visit relatives and friends, and to host cook-outs in their commodious backyard including a spectacular annual Fourth of July festival which included all the neighbors. With JP's bountiful vegetable, herb and fruit crops from his garden and Mary's skill at cooking and canning, they produced and shared very tasty dishes including Mary's famous salsa. Mary succumbed to the scourge of Alzheimer's disease on August 6, 2022. At the time of her death, she was being cared for at Chisholm Place in Wichita with hospice service provided by Traditions (fka Serenity). She was preceded in death by her parents, three siblings (Robert Sims of Reno NV, Richard Sims of Dallas TX, and Shirley Sims Treat of Wichita KS) and her husband. She is survived by her three children (Audrey Mross of Dallas TX, Robert Mross of Boise ID and Richard Mross of Boise ID), two sisters-in-law (Jean Mross of Little Rock AR and Joan Sims of Reno NV) and nieces and nephews in Arkansas, California and Texas. A Celebration of Life will be in held in Wichita at Botanica in the Terrace Room starting at 10 a.m. on Saturday, October 8. Fellowship and the service will be followed by a catered meal on the patio. In lieu of flowers, guests are encouraged to bring a potluck side dish or dessert to share, as was the habit for all those great Fourth of July parties and/or to make a gift to Botanica or to the K-State Gardens. Mary and JP will be interred together at Old Mission Cemetery in Wichita, KS.