Ruth Schor, 80, of Chapel Hill died peacefully on April 13, 2009.

She was the mother of Jonathan, of Whitestone, N.Y.

Ruth was born on Feb. 6, 1929 in Milwaukee, Wis. She moved to New York in 1946 and attended Julliard School of music. She enjoyed a professional operatic singing career for 10 years, both live performances and recording. Thereafter, Ruth taught music and English in the New York City school system. Ruth and her late husband, Harold, retired to Chapel Hill in 1978.

Donations can be made to Carolina Meadows, Inc. Residents Remembrance Gift Fund, a 501(C)(3) charitable organization. Mail to: Schor c/o Rodnon 166-40 Powells Cove Blvd. Suite 9C, Whitestone, NY 11357.

Arrangements are by the Cremation Society of the Carolinas: www.cremnc.com.

Julio Cortes

Julio Cortes, 85, born Jan. 23, 1924, in Bilbao, Spain, died April 13, 2009, in Tarragona, Spain.

He was a professor emeritus of Arabic at UNC. After earning his Ph.D. in Semitic philology in 1953 at the Complutense University of Madrid, he served as an army officer in Spanish Morocco and was the cultural attache to the Spanish embassies in Damascus, Syria, and Beirut, Lebanon. As a scholar, he was most known for his translation of the Koran from Arabic to Spanish and for creating the first modern Arabic-Spanish dictionary. Following a 33-year career in the Department of Romance Languages at UNC, he retired in 2000 and moved back to Spain, where he continued work on an Arabic etymological dictionary.

The funeral was held in Creixell, Spain, on April 15, 2009.