Victor L. Simpson, the longtime Rome bureau chief for The Associated Press (AP), has died at the age of 84. He passed away from cancer on Sunday at his home in Rome, as confirmed by his children on Monday. Born on May 11, 1942, to Leonard Simpson and Selma Randell, an elementary school teacher, Simpson grew up in Brooklyn and attended Brooklyn Tech and The Franklin School, now known as the Dwight School. He earned a degree in political science and economics in 1963 from Hobart College and briefly served in the U.S. Army after graduation. Simpson joined the AP in 1967 in Newark, where he covered local news and wrote an award-winning series on organized crime. He later moved to the AP’s General Desk, where he edited top domestic stories, and then to the Foreign Desk in 1970. In 1972, he was assigned to Rome as a news editor, where he met his future wife, Daniela Petroff, who later became a distinguished AP correspondent covering fashion and Vatican affairs. He became the Rome bureau chief in 2005. Throughout his 46-year career, Simpson covered some of the most significant events of the late 20th and early 21st centuries. He reported on the 1967 Newark race riots, wars in the Middle East, and the papacy of Pope John Paul II, whom he accompanied on numerous international trips. His assignments included the 1974 Turkish invasion of Cyprus, Egyptian President Anwar Sadat’s historic visit to Israel in 1977, and the 1982 Israeli invasion of Lebanon. In his early years in Rome, he focused on stories involving political violence, high-profile kidnappings, and unsolved mysteries such as the 1980 Ustica air disaster, which claimed 81 lives. Simpson’s life was marked by personal tragedy. His father was shot during a robbery in 1964, and in 1985, his 11-year-old daughter, Natasha, was killed by Palestinian militants who attacked Rome’s airport. Simpson and his then 9-year-old son, Michael, were both wounded in the attack. His children, Michael and Debbie, announced his death and said that the pain he carried over Natasha’s death “has finally evaporated, leaving only love behind.” Simpson had planned to retire on February 28, 2013, but Pope Benedict XVI unexpectedly announced his resignation on the same date. Simpson stayed to cover the 2013 conclave that elected Pope Francis. He had a close relationship with Pope John Paul II, including a private dinner on the papal plane after a tour of Asia and the Pacific. One of his most notable exclusives came in 1988, when he asked John Paul II about the Solidarity movement in Poland, receiving full papal support for the strikes. Simpson was widely respected in the Rome press corps and often served as a mentor to new journalists. His extensive coverage of the Vatican made him one of the longest-serving Vatican correspondents of his generation, including 92 trips with John Paul II and Pope Benedict XVI. AP Executive Editor Julie Pace praised Simpson’s legacy, noting that he remained a frequent subject of discussion among AP journalists even after his retirement. Simpson was known for his storytelling, often recounting his experiences such as a private dinner with John Paul II and an interview with Svetlana Alliluyeva, the daughter of Soviet leader Joseph Stalin. He obtained the interview by visiting her in Princeton, New Jersey, after she defected from the USSR.