Emily F. Keller

Obituary of Arleen Wolsiefer Probeyahn

    Arleen Wolsiefer Probeyahn, an advocate for people with disabilities who had three autistic sons, passed away on October 19th. Her husband of fifty years, Roy Probeyahn, said the cause of her death was heart failure.

    Probeyahn was born in Queens and raised in Merrick, Long Island. She met her husband at Wellington C. Mepham High School in North Bellmore, where both were students, and the two were married in Merrick in 1961. The three Probeyahn sons – Roy, Jr., Michael, & Glenn – are now in their 40s.

Obituary of Judy Record

    Judy Record, a longtime member and former chair of the Suffolk County Handicap Advisory Board (now known as the Suffolk County Disabilities Advisory Board), has passed away. She was 69.

    Her husband Gilbert Record said, “I’m still reeling from it. I miss her so much. We were so close for 41 plus years. It’s just very hard to get used to it. Judy always had a smile – always – and I never heard her say a bad word about anybody. She was just an upbeat positive person especially so even with all her aches and pains. I think I was very lucky to have her and I wish I had her longer.”

Obituary of Matthew Sapolin

    The first Commissioner of the New York City Mayor’s Office for People with Disabilities has died.

    Matthew Sapolin, 41, passed away on November 29^th. The cause of death was cancer, which he had battled since childhood.

    Sapolin was born in Islip, New York. He became blind at age five from bilateral retinoblastoma, a cancer affecting the optic nerve. 

    He held a BA in Philosophy from New York University (NYU), where he was co-captain of the wrestling team. Sapolin earned the University Athletic Association Athlete of the Week honor three times and received the President's Service Award for Volunteerism and Community Service upon graduating. He also held an MA in Public Health Administration from NYU’s Wagner School of Public Service.

Obituary of Michael Imperiale

    Imagining New York City and the world without Michael Imperiale’s booming voice, friendly smile and firm opinions is to imagine a place that is blander, colder and less direct. Imperiale passed away last month at the age of 74. He lived on the Lower East Side and was the 34-year partner of the late Frieda Zames.

    Disability rights activist Anne Emerman said, “Michael was a quintessential downtown guy, riding a scooter, wearing a big Western hat and a poncho. Bus drivers said he was the mayor of the Lower East Side.”

    Imperiale was the lead singer for the Disabled in Action Singers and liked to play chess and sing in Washington Square Park. “Michael was a big, warm-hearted person. Children and animals loved him,” Emerman said.

    Nadina LaSpina and her partner Danny Robert said Imperiale was the first person they called for a civil rights or peace protest because he could convey a message with great volume and he was always ready to start a chant, which he enjoyed more than meetings. They knew him for 20 years.

    “He was irrepressible, once he got something in his head he didn’t care what anybody said,” Robert said. “Of course he had a really beautiful singing voice and he would break out in song at any time he wanted to.”

Obituary of Fred Fay

    The independent living movement is mourning the loss of a powerful force last month when Fred Fay passed away. Fay was 66 and lived in Concord, Mass.

    Fay became an activist after being injured in a trapeze accident at 16 that damaged his spinal cord. Fay learned that he would never walk again and began using a wheelchair and then driving a car.

    When he was 17, Fay co-founded a counseling and information center with his mother Janet called “Opening Doors” and the Washington Architectural Barriers Project that fought for accessibility of the D.C. transit system.

    Fay developed assistive technology systems that use computers to empower people with physical disabilities. He was pivotal to the movement that achieved the passage of the Architectural Barriers Act of 1968, Sections 503 and 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act of 1975 and the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990.

Ed Roberts Campus Opens

    A new school has opened in California in honor of Edward V. Roberts, a leader in the independent living movement for people with disabilities.

    The Ed Roberts Campus opened in November 2010 and is expected to serve 30,000 people annually. A grand opening celebration took place April 16. Mayor Tom Bates of Berkeley and Rep. Barbara Lee (D-Oakland) attended the event.

Obituary of Irene Jill McGinn

    Irene Jill McGinn passed away December 3, just months after retiring from the Long Island Developmental Disabilities Services Office (LIDDSO), where she worked as director.

    The U.S. Senate passed a resolution honoring McGinn upon her retirement from the LIDDSO. The resolution said McGinn “rendered faithful, conscientious and valuable service to the Long Island Developmental Disabilities Services Office” and called for a celebration of her service on September 16, 2010.

Obituary of Anna Capell

    Anna Capell, an activist from the Bronx, passed away in September following a bout with pneumonia. She was reportedly in her 80s.

    Capell was born with a spinal disorder and has been a quadriplegic for the majority of her life. According to Co-op City News, doctors purportedly told Capell’s parents that she would not live to turn 18, and so it was unnecessary to send her to school.

Obituary of Laura Hershey

    Laura Hershey, a well-known activist, nonfiction writer and poet passed away November 26 following an illness. She leaves behind her partner, Robin Stephens ,and their daughter, Shannon, her mother, father and brother John Hershey.

    "She was a genius who lived with disability and lived well,” Stephens told The Denver Post.

    Hershey was an organizer for ADAPT and Not Dead Yet, a protestor against Jerry Lewis's muscular dystrophy telethons and an activist for gay and lesbian rights. She attended United Nations conferences on women's rights in Kenya and Beijing.

Kathy Urschel Passes Away After Accident

    Athlete Kathy Urschel of Baldwinsville, New York passed away November 9 following an accident three days earlier.

    Urschel, 46, was a longtime member of the United States Association of Blind Athletes (USABA) and a Paralympian.

    USABA Executive Director Mark Lucas released a statement expressing his sorrow and praise for Urschel. “A remarkably resilient, genuine, inspirational woman and fierce competitor with a zeal for life,” Lucas said.  “Kathy lost her sight and hearing and faced them as minor inconveniences, leaving us with the legacy that true success in life is how we choose our attitude in any situation.”

    Urschel had raced across the country on a tandem bike in seven days and won a silver medal in cycling at the Atlanta Paralympics. She participated in a canoe race in New Zealand and in the Sydney Paralympics, where she finished in 11th place. She was inducted into the Syracuse Sports Hall of Fame in 2005.