James Eddy
WPSD Class of 1972
July 29, 1953 – June 20, 2006
Going through the papers of her younger brother, James S. Eddy, Laraine
Metheny found a letter their mother had written recalling how she had
discovered that her son was born deaf.
“He made sounds like any child would,” Ms. Metheny, of Elkins, W.Va.,
said. But when he was about 2, “mother was outside and called to him. He
didn’t respond, even when she was right behind him. She called a
neighbor over and they tested him by banging on pots and pans.”
That was in Carmichaels, Greene County. The youngster grew up to lead a
productive and creative life as a teacher of sign language, counselor to
the deaf community and co-founder and executive director of the
Pittsburgh Deaf Theater.
Mr. Eddy died June 20 at his home in Laurel, Md. There will be a
memorial service for him in his hometown tomorrow, which would have been
Mr. Eddy’s 53rd birthday.
The son of the late Alexander Sherwood and Edna Smider Eddy, Mr. Eddy
was a 1972 graduate of the Western Pennsylvania School for the Deaf,
where he began as a boarding student at age 3. He received an
associate’s degree from Rochester Institute of Technology and worked in
several jobs in Pittsburgh, among them as a printer for Gulf Oil and as
a sign language instructor and interpreter.
He was a caregiver for special needs adults at Allegheny East Mental
Health/Mental Retardation Center while in the Pittsburgh area and at a
facility in Annapolis, Md.
He lived in the city and in the eastern suburbs of Pittsburgh.
He moved to Maryland in 2000 and worked part time at Gallaudet
University.
His brother, John Eddy of Peters, recalled that “he was very independent
and didn’t want to depend on his family. He did his thing in the deaf
community and was popular; I don’t know how many people I’ve talked with
over the years whom he taught sign language.”
Mr. Eddy’s work with Pittsburgh Deaf Theater dates to the late 1970s and
early 1980s. According to sign language interpreter Diana
Saunders-Conley, Mr. Eddy used to attend the performances she
interpreted at Pittsburgh Public Theater.
“The PDT was Jim’s ‘baby.’ … I remember when Jim and his friend John
Rudish told me that they wanted to start a deaf theater group in
Pittsburgh,” she told his brother in an e-mail. “They invited me to
their first planning meeting, which made me a ‘charter member.’ I often
think of my years of involvement with PDT as the most fun time of my
life! Jim was a big reason for that.
“He was brilliantly talented, in my opinion. And so funny. We developed
a skit we used to do together called ‘The Deaf Boxer.’ People still tell
me how much they enjoyed Jim’s performance.”
Mr. Eddy is survived by his brother and sister.
Friends will be received starting at 1 p.m. tomorrow before a 2 p.m.
memorial service at the Yoskovich Funeral Home, 300 S. Vine St.,
Carmichaels. Interment will follow at Greene County Memorial Park,
Waynesburg.
The family suggests memorial contributions to Autism Speaks, 2 Park
Ave., 11th Floor, New York, NY 10016.
By Christopher Rawson, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette