Bernadette Sims never believed she had done anything particularly special, even as her dance studio grew from a room in her house into what is now the Northwest Florida Ballet.

• “She always felt like that if she could do something, anybody could do it,” said her daughter, Enger Dickey. “She never felt anything she did was particularly special, and I don’t think she really realized how extraordinary she was.”

Sims passed away Dec. 28 in Shalimar, leaving behind a legacy that transformed the cultural landscape of Northwest Florida through dance, visual arts and an unwavering commitment to making beauty accessible to everyone.

Born Aug. 25, 1943, in Mobile, Alabama, Bernadette Stone fell in love with ballet as a young girl. Her talent caught the attention of Robert Joffrey himself, who offered her a position with the prestigious Joffrey Ballet in New York City after she graduated high school. She turned it down to marry her high school sweetheart, Vernon “Bill” Clements.

“She had often wondered how her life would be different if she had accepted that offer, but that she never regretted the decision,” Dickey said. “She was happy to have a family and have chosen the life that she did.”

When Sims arrived in Fort Walton Beach with Bill, she cried at the sight of the small town. In the early days, she traveled back and forth to Mobile to continue dancing. Eventually, she started teaching classes out of a room in her house before opening her studio on Chicago Avenue in Fort Walton Beach.

• “Growing up my mom literally recruited everyone in the neighborhood to help with productions,” Dickey said. “My dad and his friends built scenery, my grandmother made costumes, and all the neighborhood boys got recruited to be in a boys ballet class, including my brothers.”

Bill acted as production manager while the couple’s two sons helped backstage and on the camera. The constant presence of scenery and costume pieces at their house reflected Sims’ total dedication to building something from nothing in a community where professional dance training didn’t exist.

“I was always aggravated as a teenager because I was Bernadette’s daughter,” Dickey said. “Everyone in the community knew who she was. I’m so proud of that now, but it was difficult growing up to figure out who I was because I was Bernadette’s daughter all the time.”

Sims served as president of both the State Dance Association of Florida and the Southeastern Regional Ballet Association. She was also involved with the Florida Division of Arts and Culture through their grant programs.

Her influence extended beyond the region. When Dickey was 16 or 17, she took a class at a festival Robert Joffrey taught. After thanking him, he immediately recognized her.

• “The first thing he said was, ‘you’re Bernadette’s daughter. You dance just like her,’” Dickey recalled.

Among her students was Todd Allen, current artistic director and CEO of Northwest Florida Ballet, who was 14 when his family doctor suggested ballet to help rehabilitate a torn hamstring he sustained playing football at Bruner Middle School. The doctor was Dr. Carr, whose wife Linda happened to be Sims’ close friend.

“Little did I know that this day would change my life forever,” Allen said.

Sims reassured the apprehensive teenager, keeping the focus on stretching and building strength in his injured leg so he could return to football. After several weeks in beginner classes with Ms. Ruthie, Allen’s rehabilitation progressed quickly.

After about three months of training, Sims moved Allen into a more advanced class and asked if he would play a small part in the upcoming production of the ballet Giselle.

“Although I was very new to this ballet thing I could see the talented dancers around me turning and jumping in ways I never dreamed,” Allen said. “I had never heard classical music before or knew that you could express your emotions through dance and tell a story while doing so.”

After the final performance of Giselle, Sims invited all the students to her house for a party — one of many fun times swimming in the pool, eating sweets and watching themselves on video while receiving more corrections from her.

That evening, Allen decided to stop playing football and dedicate his time to dance training.

• Allen’s mother was raising three kids on her own and worked three jobs. Sims agreed to give Allen a scholarship, and his mother insisted he mow the yard at the ballet studio in return for the assistance.

“I would later learn that Bernadette was known to give free tuition to many students in need,” Allen said.

Behind the scenes, Sims quietly provided opportunities for students who might not otherwise have access to dance training. Coming from an unstable upbringing where her family didn’t have much money, she understood financial barriers firsthand.

“I’ve had more people come out of the woodwork since she passed away, telling me I wouldn’t have been able to dance if it weren’t for your mom,” Dickey said.

That generosity extended into her private life. She bought cars for housekeepers, helped pay for their children’s education and found countless other ways to support people.

• “She just did it. It wasn’t for any recognition or anything,” Dickey said. “She just did it ’cause she had such a generous heart.”

After about six months of training, Sims invited Allen to dance with the company and participate in classes and performances at the Southeastern Regional Ballet Festival. There, Robert Joffrey offered Allen a scholarship to train at the Joffrey Ballet School in New York City that summer.

“I couldn’t believe what she was saying — I was a beginner and was nowhere near as capable as most of the dancers in our company let alone the ones at the festival,” Allen said.

Aware that Allen’s mother couldn’t afford to send him or pay for housing, Sims asked ballet board member Ann Pettigrew to introduce Allen to Sybil Lebherz, who became his sponsor. Between Sybil, Bernadette and his sister, they convinced Allen’s mother to accept the financial assistance. Allen trained at the Joffrey School for five years every summer.

During his senior year of high school, Sims told Allen he needed more training and asked about college. He hadn’t thought about it because of the financial stress it would put on his mother.

In January of that year, Allen received a letter of acceptance and scholarship from Virginia Intermont College.

• “Bernadette was at it again,” he said.

Sims believed dance taught young people discipline, persistence, perseverance and self-discipline — skills they would carry throughout their lives.

“She taught us discipline, integrity and that hard work could beat talent on most days,” Allen said. “She also expected the boys to act like young gentlemen and the girls to act like young ladies.”

Former students told Dickey they were able to be successful at things because they knew how to attack challenges that weren’t easy for them and stick with difficult goals — lessons learned from Sims’ teaching.

Her teaching philosophy centered on helping every student become the best dancer they could be, which looked different for each individual.

• “She just wanted everyone to enjoy their dancing and be the best at it that they could be,” Dickey said.

Allen stayed in touch with Sims while in college and during his professional career, often coming back to take her classes and eventually performing as a guest artist in the company’s productions.

“Bernadette was always there for me and I would call her and ask for advice on many occasions,” Allen said.

One day, Sims called Allen and told him she wanted to retire in the coming years, asking if he would be interested in coming home and being the director. He said no the first few times because he wasn’t ready to leave city life and performing.

• “One cold day while I was dancing in Canada I called her and shared some good news about Shari and I expecting a baby and told her I was ready to come home and give this job a chance,” Allen said.

When Allen and his wife Shari began serving as directors in the mid-1990s, Sims was navigating transitions in both her professional and personal life. After Bill Clements passed away, she eventually met William Sims, whom she called Billy, and remarried. She converted to Catholicism and found love again while continuing her work with the ballet.

“I learned a lot from her personally about how to run a dance school,” Shari Allen said. “I was a professional dancer and I’d done a lot of teaching, but I’d never been on the administrative side. That’s a whole different thing.”

During those early transition years, Sims shared her experiences with the Allens as they both adjusted to new roles. And while Sims had some reservations about certain changes the young couple wanted to make, she remained supportive.

“She believed in us and we just really appreciated that,” Shari Allen said. “We always wanted to make sure that we were loyal to her and that her vision carried forward. She was so wonderful in that support by telling us, ‘I’m so proud of you for taking these chances and trying to do these things.’”

• “Shari and I loved to see her at performances and she continued to give me corrections each time I saw her,” Allen said, referring to Sims always remaining a teacher.

After more than 50 years serving the community through ballet, Sims retired from dance but continued developing her artistic abilities. She became an avid visual artist working in watercolor and photography.

As a member of the Arts and Design Society and founder and board member of Okaloosa Public Arts — where she again served as president — Sims helped bring art to public spaces including the county administrative building and the Emerald Coast Herons.

Over the years, as Todd and Shari grew into their leadership roles, Sims gradually stepped back from daily operations but remained deeply connected to the company. She continued to be supportive, willing to take on roles on board committees and even performing in character roles on stage a few times. She taught classes at the studio and attended rehearsals when she could.

“She wanted the world to see how beautiful dance was and see the world as beautiful,” Dickey said. “I think that was the same thing with the visual arts.”

Leadership roles seemed to find Sims naturally, even when she resisted them.

• “She would always say, ‘I don’t want to be the president. I don’t want to do that.’ And then she always ended up doing it just because she’s a leader like that,” Dickey said.

Throughout the years, as Sims watched the ballet evolve, she remained amazed by its growth. The journey from that small room in the Clements’ house — which later moved to a strip mall and then to its own building on Chicago Avenue — represented decades of transformation.

“She couldn’t believe that coming from such a small, humble beginning that has grown into such a big organization now and how professional it is,” Dickey said. “She was always just awed by the growth of the company. And she was really proud of what Todd and Shari had done with the company.”

When reflecting on everything she had built, Sims remained characteristically humble.

• “I don’t know, I just did it,” she would say.

“Bernadette was like a second mother to me when I was growing up and continued to be a mentor to both Shari and me,” Allen said. “She made a difference in my life and for that of many others, she inspired me to carry on the tradition of teaching and directing and serving my community through dance and arts’ education.”

A few months before Sims passed away, she shared her feelings about what the Allens had accomplished with the ballet.

“She said, ‘you guys have done such an amazing job with the ballet,'” Shari Allen recalled, referring not only to the ballet but also the addition of the public school. “‘I don’t know what it would be if you guys weren’t there.'”

The words meant everything to the couple who have worked six days a week for nearly 30 years to carry forward Sims’ vision. 

• There were approximately 75 to 100 students when they took over in 1995, the organization has grown to include about 200 students in the community school, 145 in the academy program for third through eighth grade and 21 in the high school program.

“There won’t be a day in the studio that I don’t think about her,” Shari Allen said. She also recently told her middle school students about Sims after her passing.

“What former students remembered about Bernadette were the things she said that would make them a better dancer and a better person,” Shari Allen said. “She didn’t hand things to people on a silver platter. You had to work for it, and that made you a better person.”

Allen said he will never forget how Sims helped him and has tried to do the same for other children despite their families’ ability to pay for lessons.

• “Bernadette touched all of our hearts in a special way — she was patient, demanding and always supportive,” Allen said. “It’s why I try to pay it forward even today.”

Dickey believes her mother would want to be remembered professionally as someone who was passionate about dance and her dancers, who always wanted what was best for everyone.

Looking at her mother’s accomplishments across dance, visual arts and advocacy work, Dickey sees one common thread connecting it all.

• “Probably just her love for seeing, finding, and creating beauty in the world,” she said.

Sims is survived by her husband, William Sims; her three children, Enger Dickey, Patrick Clements and Scott Clements; and her sisters, Bonita Deck and Frances Thompson.