Pioneer in deaf education, Mary Lou Garton, dies at 77

sara1981 · 07-30-2009, 01:23 AM

Pioneer in deaf education, Mary Lou Garton, dies at 77
Pioneer in deaf education, Mary Lou Garton, dies at 77

Quote:

Having a deaf daughter shaped Mary Lou Garton’s life, along with the lives of many others helped by the Olathe woman who was a pioneer in deaf education.

Among other things, she taught hundreds of Kansans to sign and helped found the Deaf Cultural Center in Olathe before she died of cancer Sunday at age 77.

Her husband of 59 years, Bill Garton, said of her: “Olathe is probably one of the most friendly places for deaf people in the United States and it came from her.”

She was only 23 when they moved to Olathe to enroll their young deaf daughter, Jeanne, in the Kansas School for the Deaf.

Back in those days, Garton said, teachers told people not to use sign language in fear students would not use speech. His wife learned to sign in secret.

She didn’t tell people until Jeanne woke up from a bad dream and used signing to tell her mother a lion was chasing her. Knowing what was wrong, her mother was able to calm her.

Soon she started a Sunday school class for her daughter and three other deaf children at the First Baptist Church. She interpreted the services herself and became a volunteer interpreter for police, doctors, businesses and others, Bill Garton wrote in a tribute to her.

“There was a very real need,” he wrote. “As a human being, when you see a need you either back away or try to get involved.”

She earned a bachelor’s degree in education, joined staff at the Kansas School for the deaf in 1975 and stayed there 15 years, earning a master’s degree along the way.

At her start there, only a handful of teachers used sign language and her job was to incorporate it into the curriculum.

“She taught teachers to sign and the staff to sign and then she started on the parents,” Garton said. She traveled the state in the summers without pay teaching others and headed efforts that resulted in a sign book for police, fire and rescue departments.

She retired from the school in 1990 to work with her husband and son, Jim, in the family truck business, Tandem Truck Service, Inc. but stayed active in the community.

Mary Kelly, executive director of the Deaf Cultural Center, said Mary Lou’s support was crucial in raising money to get the building up at 455 E. Park St. in 2001 and the museum in place there by 2005.

Though she did so much, Kelly and others said, Mary Lou did not seek attention.

Her friend and neighbor, Nell Bowen, said, “She literally walked the earth very quietly doing her thing.”

She loved Olathe and loved kids and was always interested in what they were doing, Bowen said.

Robert Maile, superintendent at the school for the deaf, said Mary Lou was a much loved advocate who “served as a kind of bridge between the hearing and deaf communities.”

She wore a container that dripped cancer-fighting medicine while she attended meetings of boards she was on that advocate for the deaf, he said. “Her departure has left a big hole.”

And it left a legacy.

Kelly said the center for the deaf now provides help and advice for deaf people or those assisting them all over the country.

Mary Lou always stressed early education, she said. “Before Jeanne got into school, she was like a wild child.”

As for Jeanne, she earned a master’s degree herself and recently retired after decades of teaching at a school for the deaf in California.

Garton said Jeanne had a child that is not deaf and before his wife fell ill, she wanted to start a program mentoring the hearing children of deaf families.

Pastor Debbie Buchholz of First Baptist Church, said the deaf congregation there has grown to more than 100 and life was too short for all Mary Lou wanted to do for the deaf community.

“She always thought big,” Buchholz said. “She got so much done.”

Her visitation services will be today at the Penwell-Gabel Funeral Home, 143rd and Black Bob in Olathe from 6 to 8 p.m.

Her memorial services will be Thursday at 10 a.m. at the First Baptist Church of Olathe, with burial at Oak Lawn Cemetery in Olathe.

i didnt know about that woman!!

Buffalo · 07-30-2009, 03:01 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by sara1981

i didnt know about that woman!!

I didn't know either. Thanks for bringing that to us.

***Jolie77*** · 07-30-2009, 11:34 AM

Ah, Interesting. I haven't heard of her but thanks for bringing this to our attention.

dreama · 07-31-2009, 06:34 PM

That's an interesting story. I wish there were more people like her.

07-30-2009, 11:34 AM	#3 (permalink)
*Jolie77* Love all, trust a few. Join Date: Nov 2005 Location: Kentucky, USA (The Bluegrass State) Posts: 8,017 Blog Entries: 1	Ah, Interesting. I haven't heard of her but thanks for bringing this to our attention. __________________ “Tough girls come from New York. Sweet girls, they're from Georgia. But us Kentucky girls, we have fire and ice in our blood. We can ride horses, be a debutante, throw left hooks, and drink with the boys, all the while making sweet tea, darlin'. And if we have an opinion, you know you're gonna hear it.” - Ashley Judd

07-31-2009, 06:34 PM	#4 (permalink)
dreama deafblind vegan Join Date: Apr 2007 Location: England Posts: 3,018	That's an interesting story. I wish there were more people like her. __________________ I speak for those who cannot speak for themselves. http://www.fightfoca.com/

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