Prominent deaf advocate dies aged 84
Marcella M. Meyer, a prominent advocate for the deaf who fought to expand civil rights in California and America, recently died aged 84.
She helped found the Greater Los Angeles Agency on Deafness in 1969, which established social services and ran for almost 3 decades.
Marcella played a key role in establishing a state-wide telephone service in California that relayed messages between the hearing and hearing-impaired.
The activist was also instrumental in setting up jury service in Los Angeles County to the deaf and hard of hearing in 1981, after the county had failed to provide sign-language interpreters.
Meyer became deaf from the age of six when she contracted scarlet fever and first learnt sign language aged 18.
She was described by friends as someone who was much respected by so many within and outside of California for her work serving deaf and hard of hearing people.
According to one of her daughters, Marcella’s greatest achievement was when her agency opened a community centre for the deaf in the late 1990s. She will be sadly missed by all who she helped and knew.
As featured on LATimes.com.
