RUTH SIMMS

RUTH SIMMS (Age 97)  
A retired translator, formerly of Reston, VA, died in Wyncote, PA on January 22, 2018. Born in Detroit, MI and educated at the University of Michigan, she came to Washington in 1943 at the invitation of the U.S. Army Signal Intelligence Service headquartered at Arlington Hall, where she worked as a translator in the cryptography operation until the end of World War II. Specializing in Spanish language translation, she later worked for the Pan American Health Organization, and the U.S. Departments of State and Commerce. As a literary translator, she was among the early translators of works by distinguished Latin Americans, notably "Other Inquisitions," a collection of essays by Argentine author Jorge Luis Borges; "The Bow and the Lyre" by Mexican Nobel Laureate Octavio Paz; "The Invention of Morel" by Adolfo Bioy Casares; and "The Artist in New York," the letters of renowned Mexican muralist Jose Clemente Orozco. Her translations were published by the University of Texas Press and are still in print. She is survived by a son and daughter. A private memorial service will be followed by interment alongside her late husband, Arthur, at Arlington National Cemetery Columbarium at a later date.