In Memoriam
Wolfgang
Stein
Susana Crespo
Enrique Elissalde
William Gallagher
Victor Vaughan
Edward J. Waterhouse
Wolfgang
Stein
died
December 28, 2000 at age 70 after decades of services to the visually impaired.
Among his efforts were the ten years he was president of our organization
1977-1987.
In the late 1950s he spent a month at the School for the Blind in Sheffield, England to extend his knowledge about blind children and incidentally to improve his English. The director Frederick Tooze and Wolf became life-long friends and accepted a few international assignments together. Wolf’s first challenge was as director of School for Blind Girls and Women in Hong Kong where he modernized school activities and established a training program for the women.
Five years later, he joined Christoffel Blindenmission as director of International Service for the Visually Impaired. He travelled extensively and one day found himself in a travel bureau in India. He was so impressed by the manager Mr. P.G. Michael that he invited him to work for CBM. Since Mr. Michael knew little about special education or rehabilitation, Wolf drew up a plan for his preparation. Again, Wolf made a life-long friend of Mr. Michael whom he affectionately called Mike. Eventually Mike became a regional CBM representative and fostered the growth of many existing programs in several countries in south Asia and set up new ones, including two large university level teacher training programs in Trichy and Bangalore, India.
In 1972, I became the president of ICEVH as it was then known and Wolf and I met often to share information from each other.
Having developed a small project in which excellent teachers were sent as volunteers for short periods to developing countries, I was grateful for Wolf’s broad knowledge of creative teachers. Once he and I were asked to talk to a class of international students at University in Heidelberg, Germany. Having taught classes to university students in my own country and several others, I was looking forward to the afternoon in Dr. Schindele’s class. Wolf spoke first for about 40 minutes and he was so good that when he finished - with all my experience teaching university students – I felt tongue-tied.
Wolf was a family man having two daughters and a son. There was much fun in their home and one April Fool’s Day the children tacked up a sign on the bulletin board at the entrance of CBM. Wolf had just acquired a new car of which he was extremely proud. The sign read ”almost new Peugeot for sale – cheap. Contact Wolf Stein”. All morning long that April 1 Wolf received telephone calls asking the price. Finally he figured out what was going on and laughed until his face muscles ached.
In 1981, I joined CBM and some time later, Robert Jaekle also came on board. On four occasions through the years, quite by accident the four of us met at conferences or between trips; Wolf, Bob Jaekle, Mr. Michael, and I. After an early dinner, we sat at a table for hours talking about what we were doing, the problems, our inadequacies, and our small successes. More than once the management of the restaurant asked us to leave after midnight.
In 1977 Wolf became president of ICEVH. He took the 1982 World Conference to Nairobi, Kenya. The very day of the opening, he woke at 4:00 am to the sound of revolutionary rifle fire. The conference had to be cancelled and five days later, it was finally safe for all participants to go home. Wolf began to plan the next World Conference at once for 1987 to be held at Wurzburg, Germany. That was a huge success.
Wolf Stein was a dynamic leader and this organization grew into its present importance largely because of his years of service. He will be missed, but schools and centers around the world will always remember the elegantly dressed visitor who offered encouragement and help in many forms.
Dr. Jeanne R.
Kenmore
Past President, ICEVH (1972-1977)
(1928-2000) teacher and founder of the Helen Keller Institute in Cordoba, Argentina died on May 25, 2000. She was 72. She dedicated her life for more than 50 years to the education of the visually impaired. During those years her friend Lucia Piccione says she sowed the seeds of hope everywhere she visited, in each school where she gave courses and counselled”. In 1977 she was appointed the first ICEVI Latin America chairperson.
(1939-2000) president of Braille Foundation of Uruguay and a member of the Latin American Union for the Blind and World Blind Union died on January 5, 2000. Enrique was the first blind student in Uruguay to finish his high school education in a mainstream class. We all mourn the loss for he was a person who encouraged associations of the blind to organize and fight for a better life for all those with visual impairment.
(1922-2000), former executive director of the American Foundation for the Blind died, April 19, 2000. Bill, a graduate of Perkins School for the Blind in 1945. He started his outstanding career in 1954 at the Catholic Guild for all the Blind (now the Carroll Center for the Blind).
ICEVI member and educator of the blind from South Africa died in Pretoria, South Africa in 1999. He was known for efforts in educating visually impaired children in his country. He was 93.
(1902-1999), former president of ICEVI (formerly ICEBY) 1962-1967 died in Bath, Maine, USA on September 17, 1999. He was 96 years old. He was born in Hale, England. He graduated from Queen’s College Cambridge University in 1930. He emigrated to the United States shortly afterwards and began teaching mathematics at Perkins School for the Blind in 1933. He was also a housemaster in one of the school’s residences. Dr. Waterhouse was an outstanding educator of the visually impaired. Among his many accomplishments were that he helped establish deafblind programs and services in the United States and worldwide. Also he helped to expand the Perkins Teacher Training Program for overseas professionals. In 1945 he was appointed manager of the Perkins’ Howe Press and while in that position he did much to introduce to the world the newly designed Perkins Brailler. In 1951 he became the fifth director of Perkins. He resigned as director in 1971 but continued to work as a consultant for Perkins for a number of years. He also served as a trustee of the National Braille Press, Boston and as an overseer of the John Milton Society for the Blind, New York. He was chairman of the North American Committee on Service for the Blind and Deaf, 1970-74. He was involved with ICEVI from its very conception and its first conference in 1952. During the early years he was one of the organizations’ guiding lights. He was a great friend to many thousands of blind students and professionals in the field of blindness and deafblindness worldwide.