Lt. Col. Preston W. Simms died at home of an apparent heart attack at the age of 83 on January 4, 1999.

He was born in Kansas City, Missouri on January 12, 1915, raised in Ontario, Canada, and had been a resident of Santa Fe since 1959.

His wife of 56 years, Marion G. Simms, a former Vice President of the Santa Fe National Bank, died on May 29, 1994.

Col. Simms is survived by his two sons, Richard Simms and Roger Simms, their wives, Margaret and Jo, his granddaughters, Ninha Simms and Maria Simms, her husband, Fritz Peters, and his great-grandson, Taylor Peters. He is also survived by his sisters, Barbara Spink of Santa Fe and Dorothy Kath of Tucson, AZ.

Col. Simms attended Kemper Military School and the University of Wisconsin. He was commissioned as a 2nd Lt. in the United States Army Signal Corps Reserve in 1936, called to active duty in 1941, and served five years during World War II. He was appointed Lt. Col. in 1943, while a communications officer in the Mediterranean Theater of Operations. He was responsible for all radio communications from the Allied Forces Headquarters to the War Department in Washington, all other theaters of operation in the world, and all subordinate field units within the Mediterranean Theater. Decorations include the US Legion of Merit and the British OBE.

After the war, Col. Simms worked for Aeronautical Radio, Inc., the communications coordination organization then owned by the certified US air carriers. He helped pioneer the airline radio equipment standardization program and coordinated the installation of airline communication radio stations in major cities all over the world. He worked in radio communications as an electrical engineer until retiring from major corporate business in 1959.

He opened Simms Communications, Inc., in Santa Fe, maintaining and servicing two-way communications for numerous New Mexico state agencies and private businesses.

Col. Simms was active world-wide in amateur radio since 1929, licensed as W5RM. He also held a private pilot's license since 1948 and was active in Civil Air Patrol.

Graveside services will be held at 10:30 a.m. on Thursday, January 7, 1999 at Santa Fe National Cemetery.

Arrangements are under the direction of McGee Memorial Chapel, 1320 Luisa St., Santa Fe, NM 87505 Published in the Albuquerque Journal on Wednesday January 06, 1999