Fire victims were deaf role models
YOUNGSTOWN
William and Judith Schmidt, who died in an early morning fire on Monday in their residence, were valuable role models for deaf people in the Mahoning Valley, said officials of the Easter Seal Society and Youngstown Hearing and Speech Center.
“They’re going to be greatly missed by everybody in the deaf community,” said Steven Leland, manager of the community center for the deaf, a division of the hearing and speech center.
“They were very inspirational. ... They reached out to the youth quite often and were really pillars to all those in the deaf community,” said Jodi Harmon, public-relations director for Easter Seals and the hearing and speech center.
The local Easter Seal Society in Youngstown and the hearing and speech center in Boardman merged five years ago.
“Bill and Judy were always willing to talk to parents who’d just found out they had a deaf child,” Leland said.
“They would often discuss options for raising a deaf child, talking about their own personal life experiences, being deaf themselves, and raising deaf children,” Leland explained.
The Schmidts grew up in the Youngstown area and had three children, two of them deaf.
William Schmidt was a retired AT&T lineman.
His wife taught deaf people sign language.
“They cared deeply about the youth and the opportunities that they could have,” Harmon said.
“Bill often talked to deaf youth about opportunities if they worked hard,” telling them “that deafness was not a reason not to work for your goals,” Leland recalled.
“They had come here throughout their lives and the lives of their children,” Leland said, adding that members of the Schmidt family received speech and audiology services at the center.
“They were very outgoing, very sweet people, always ready to help,” Leland said of the Schmidts.