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Memorial service Saturday for deaf education champion

Kettering’s Ben Medlin dies at 88; he was an ambassador for deaf community.

Contributed photo Ben H. Medlin Sr.

Staff Writer 11:27 PM Wednesday, June 24, 2009

DAYTON — Ben H. Medlin Sr., one of the Miami Valley’s champions for deaf education, will be memorialized at 11 a.m. Saturday, June 27, at Christ Episcopal Church in downtown Dayton. Six interpreters will interpret the service to the deaf.

Mr. Medlin of Kettering died June 15. He was 88.

“Ben Medlin was a person who made a difference in our community, especially in the lives of those who were deaf,” said Karen Roberts of Oakwood, one of many who turned to Medlin and his wife, Ruth, for advice when her child was born deaf. “It was such a new world for us and the Medlins were a real inspiration.”

The couple, both deaf themselves, were among the first teachers for the Sinclair Community College American Sign Language Program. Mrs. Medlin, a Dayton Daily News Ten Top Woman, died in 1996.

Doris Miller of Kettering, whose parents were both deaf, set up the Sinclair program, and said the Medlins served as ambassadors for the deaf community for decades. She said Ben Medlin was both outgoing and brilliant.

“The deaf people looked up to Ben, he was one of those kind of people who was a magnet.”

Roberts said Mr. Medlin lived to see major changes for the deaf in his lifetime — from a time when deaf people could only communicate face to face or through a family member or friend’s interpretation, to a time when the deaf can communicate with anyone, anywhere — via TTD, text messaging, e-mail or the new Sorenson video relay service.

“He lived to see a change from a time when sign language was hidden and forbidden to a time when it is encouraged and used freely everywhere,” she said.

Born March 14, 1921, in Nashville, Tenn. Medlin graduated from Tennessee School for the Deaf, attended Gallaudet University, and worked as a toolmaker, retiring from Dayton Reliable Tool. He was a member of the National Association of the Deaf, Ohio Association of the Deaf, Dayton Association of the Deaf and Progress for the Deaf.

It was through Mr. Medlin’s efforts that a grant from the Episcopal Diocese of Southern Ohio established early programs for the deaf in the Dayton area. These programs, models for others around the nation, were later taken over and expanded by Family Service Association and Community Services for the Deaf.

In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to Sinclair Community College ASL department scholarship or Regional Infant Hearing Program, 3333 Stanley Ave., Dayton, OH 45404.

Contact this reporter at (937) 225-2440 or MMoss@Dayton DailyNews.com.

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July 2, 2009

Ben Medlin was a humble man but his actions spoke louder. He made a difference in deaf children's lives and he helped break down barriers by encouraging parents to maximize their deaf children's academic potential.
Ben and his late wife Ruth were respected by their deaf peers when they served on various committees in the Ohio Association of the Deaf. They will be sadly missed but never forgotten.

Sincerely,
Irene Tunanidas
Former OAD Recording Secretary
1975 - 1983

Irene Tunanidas
12:41 AM, 7/2/2009

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