Mervin D. Garretson

Garretson was born on July 25, 1923 in Sheridan, Wyoming. He was his paremts' ninth child. His father was a rancher and a general store proprietor alongside being a teacher. Garretson was the only deaf child of his parents among their ten offspring. He was not deaf by birth, instead he lost his hearing ability at the age of five after he was affected by spinal meningitis.[1][2]

He received his early education from the Colorado School for the Deaf and his bachelor’s degree from Gallaudet College, Washington D.C. in 1947. After that, he acquired his master’s degree from the University of Wyoming in 1955. He completed his doctorate in English from the University of Maryland, College Park.

Garretson's first marriage with Audrey Watson Garretson ended in divorce in 1953.[4] After that, he was married for 57 years to Carol Jean Kaull Garretson with whom he had five daughters – Randee Garretson, Shelley Garretson, Kyrie Garretson, Kaja Farnsworth, and Kelsi Oswald. At the time of his death Garretson had seven grandchildren and four great-grandchildren.[1][5][6]

He lived in north central Florida during the last years of his life with his second wife, Carol.[7] She was a retired professor of communications at Gallaudet University. She, like her husband, had become deaf at an early age. Carol died on November 28, 2012 in Summerfield, Florida. The cause of death was reported to be complications from diabetes.[5] Garretson died on January 9, 2013 (aged 89 years), of complications of pneumonia at the Leesburg Regional Medical Center in Summerfield, Florida.[7][2]

Garretson began his teaching and administrative career after graduating from Gallaudet University in 1947. He taught at the Maryland School for the Deaf from 1947 to 1949 and at Montana School for the Deaf from 1949 to 1962. Seven years after completing his master’s degree, he joined as the associate professor of education at Gallaudet University in 1962.[1][8]

In 1967, he was appointed at the Council of Organizations Serving the Deaf as its first executive director. He returned to Gallaudet in 1970 to serve as the principal of the newly formed Model Secondary School for the Deaf.[1]

He was a member of the 1956 meeting, named Fulton Tontine, of the national leaders that mapped the structure of the National Association of the Deaf (NAD) and served as the junior national director of the association from 1960 till 1962. He also served on the board of directors of NAD from 1960 to 1967. He then held the secretary-treasurer, vice president, and president roles at NAD between 1974 and 1982. His credentials led him to serve as a member of the Board of Directors of the World Federation of the Deaf (WFD). From 1971-91, Garretson served as the international president of the Commission on Pedagogy; he was the first deaf person to hold this position.[1][2][9]

During his career, he also served as the coordinator of The Deaf Way, which was an international conference that celebrated the deaf culture worldwide. He also served as the interim executive director of the NAD from 1989 till 1990. Moreover, he was also a member of Gallaudet University’s Board of Trustees between 1990 and 2000.[1]

Garretson authored books in both poetry and prose. His notable works include [10][11]

• Words from a Deaf Child and Other Verses (1984)
• Perspectives on Deafness (A Deaf American Monograph, Vol. 41, Nos. 1 2) (1991)
• Deafness: Life and Culture (1994)
• My Yesterdays: In a Changing World of the Deaf (2010)