Former West Union police chief Charlie Sims II dies at 76

Charlie Sims II, the former West Union police chief who also served Manchester as a police officer, firefighter and life-squad member, died Wednesday at 76, closing a career that reached deep into Adams County public safety.

Sims’ obituary said he was born Feb. 11, 1950, in Charlestown, Massachusetts, to the late Charlie and June Sims. It also traced a long local run in emergency service, including work with the Manchester Police Department, Manchester Fire Department and Manchester Life Squad from 1994 to 1997, before he later became chief of police for the West Union Police Department. He retired in the early 2000s after what the notice described as a dedicated career in public service.

His career mattered in a county where village departments have long carried much of the daily burden of law enforcement and emergency response. Manchester and West Union were both caught up in a dispute over Adams County EMS contracting in 2021, underscoring how central local ambulance and rescue service is to residents and to the villages themselves. The county-wide EMS levy voters approved in November 1983, the long-running village contract that began in 2009 and ended Jan. 1, 2022, and the later appointment of Larry Anderson as West Union police chief in November 2024 all point to a public-safety system that has depended on steady leadership and people willing to serve across roles.

Sims fit that pattern. In Manchester, where responders often move between police, fire and EMS work, his name belonged to a generation of local public-safety workers who knew the same streets, families and calls from more than one side of the job. In West Union, his time as chief placed him in one of the county’s most visible law-enforcement posts, a role that shaped how the village handled safety and order during his tenure.

He is survived by his wife, Diane Sims of West Union; seven children; sisters Linda Hunter and Sandy Sims; brother David Sims; and several grandchildren, including Daunte Shock, Kaeden Schock, Enique Myles, Maison Shock, Bayleigh Sims, Michael Sims and Sebastian Sims. The obituary also remembered him as an avid fisherman who loved all things water-related. Memorial services will be held at the family’s convenience.