NATCHEZ — You never saw Robert Percy Mims without a smile.

That’s what the many, many friends of Mims who gathered in Rolling River Bistro Monday to celebrate his life said.

To the outsider, Mims life was marked by a series of accomplishments, trials and successes.

He won several awards — including the Purple Heart, The Distinguished Flying Cross, four air medals and The Prisoner of War Medal, among many others — in his time with the U.S. Army Air Corps.

He survived World War II even after his plane was shot down and he became a prisoner of war.

He was a skilled jeweler, with a degree in horology — the art of making clocks and watches — and a pair of cufflinks of his design are on display at the Smithsonian Institute in Washington, D.C.

To his children, however, he was just dad.

“He was so humble,” said Nancy Mims McLeod, one of Mims’ six children. “A wonderful father. A wonderful humanitarian and community leader. But to us, he was just Daddy. We were blessed to have him.”

Following a funeral service with full military honors — including two U.S. Air Force planes flying overhead — Mims’ family and friends filed into Rolling River Bistro for a memorial service. Mims died Jan. 22 at age 96.

Elvis Presley songs played in the background as Mims six children — Robert Price Mims, Tye Phillips Mims, Nancy Mims McLeod, Virginia Mignon Mims, James Buford Mims and Virginia Little “Ginger” Mims — and their families and friends told stories.

“When he was 94, we were all down at the pier at the lake … and he just jumped in,” Ginger Mims said. “He was 94, but he always had fun.”

Tye Mims spent several minutes arranging a cache of memorabilia of his father’s awards, medals and old photos on a table near the entrance while Mims’ great-grandchildren ran laughing across the floor.

“He is always my inspiration; I just love to talk about him,” Tye Mims said. “We all grow up with heroes in our youth. It took me until I was well out of my teens to realize I was living with my hero. My dad.”

Tye Mims spoke about the baseball games and fishing trips his family took. He said each year his father would take two weeks off of work and take the family on a vacation.

“We would go out with the little boat and load up in the station wagon,” Tye Mims said. “He always got us where we needed to be, which, when you have six kids, is hard. He was remarkable. Just remarkable.”

Tye Mims said the family did not know his father’s whole story — of capture and being a prisoner of war — for many years.

“Some guys come back and they keep all that in, but we kept pulling, kept tugging, and one day he could talk about it,” Tye said. “We were amazed at what he told us.”

Many residents in Natchez knew Mims not just as the war hero, but as the business owner. Mims owned a jeweler shop on Main Street, just blocks away from where the memorial service was held, for more than 50 years.

Mims forged handmade jewelry in the little store on Main Street until he was 95 years old, and in time, became a staple of downtown Natchez.

It was in Robert Mims Jeweler store that Mark LaFrancis first proposed to him the idea of recording Mims’ oral history.

LaFrancis, coordinator for the Mississippi WWII Oral History Project, said Mims story of bravery and perseverance was too important to lose.

“The interview lasted four hours,” LaFrancis said. “We were entranced. When he stood up and left, I told my friend, ‘We’ve been in the presence of a true hero.

“A fellow who lived through the darkest time … he translated that into a hunger for joy,” LaFrancis said.

Ginger Mims said there was simply too much to tell about her father.

“I could tell a million stories,” she said. “But I’ll say, he always had a smile. He smiled with his eyes. He was thankful.”