Pettingill, Don George

Deafened at age 5 from rubella; attended the Idaho School for the Deaf, graduating 1938. Worked in print shops for a while, then at age 26 bought his own printing shop in Lewiston, ID. After 16 years in that shop, he sold it at a huge profit and changed fields to vocational rehabilitation in Indianapolis. He then directed counseling services for adult deaf in Dallas, TX and was a project coordinator for Northwest Rehabilitation in Seattle. In 1970, moved to Washington DC to coordinate the work-study program at the Model Secondary School for the Deaf, rising to director of programs in adult and community education at Gallaudet College and eventually retiring in 1989 as special assistant to Gallaudet's Vice President for College Relations. President of the National Association of the Deaf 1972-1974. Went to college late in life, earning a bachelor's degree from Gallaudet College in 1976. Died at Annapolis, MD from complications of pneumonia.