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Bethesda, Maryland: Howard E. “Rocky” Stone died on August 13, 2004, at
age 79, at Washington Hospital Center in Washington, D.C., from
complications of pneumonia.
Rocky Stone experienced a bilateral hearing loss at age 19 during his
World War II service in the U.S. Army. Following military service, he
graduated from the University of Southern California and completed one
year in the master’s program at the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced
International Studies. He spent 25 years in federal service with the
Central Intelligence Agency, earning the Agency’s highest award.
Rocky Stone founded SHHH in 1979 and volunteered as executive director
until 1993. His goal was to establish SHHH as a membership organization
run by people with hearing loss. “We provide information necessary for
them to make choices, but emphasize the choice must be theirs. The
challenge is to develop togetherness within diversity.”
In 1988, he was appointed by President Reagan to the “Access Board,” which
drafted the accessibility guidelines for the landmark Americans with
Disabilities Act of 1990. Rocky saw to it that the communication access
needs of people who are hard of hearing were written into the guidelines.
In 1990, he was appointed by the Secretary of Health and Human Services to
the advisory council of the National Institute on Deafness and Other
Communication Disorders at the National Institutes of Health. In 1991, he
was awarded an honorary doctorate from Gallaudet University where he
served on the board of the Gallaudet Research Institute
.
Since retiring from SHHH in 1993, Rocky has served as president of the
International Federation of Hard of Hearing People and as a trustee of
Hearing International and the Cochlear Implant Association International.
In addition, Rocky was founder, volunteer, consultant, and chair of
various organizations and committees dedicated to meeting the needs of
people with all disabilities, particularly hearing loss. He continued to
serve as SHHH executive director emeritus.
Rocky is survived by Ahme, his wife of 53 years, four children, Jolie
Stone Frank of Potomac, Maryland, Michael Stone of Greenbriar, West
Virginia, Ted Stone of Bethesda, Maryland, and Melanie Stone Hogan of
Lakewood, Ohio, and 10 grandchildren. In addition, he is survived by two
sisters, Mary Meyer of Libertyville, Illinois, and Helen (“Teddie”) Spies
of Silver Spring, Maryland.
Funeral arrangements will be posted on the
http://www.hearingloss.org as they are available.
Self Help for Hard of Hearing People (SHHH) is the nations’ foremost
membership and advocacy organization for people with hearing loss. SHHH
opens the world of communication to people with hearing loss through
information, education, support and advocacy. The national support network
includes the Washington, D.C., area office, 13 state organizations, and
250 local chapters.
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