Tubergen, John "Jack"

Probably the first deaf newscaster, when he gave the news in sign language during the 1959-1960 television season in Chicago. Graduated the Illinois School for the Deaf, then from Gallaudet College (1940). Went to work as a proofreader for various Chicago newspapers, including the Chicago Tribune. In 1958, angered at missing a tornado warning because TV was not accessible to the deaf, he wrote a letter to NBC. He was subsequently invited to become a signing newscaster for the deaf on a Chicago-area TV station, a gig that lasted only 13 weeks before it, along with other live broadcasts, was cancelled due to an electricians' strike. In 1975, was offered and accepted a new job at Harper College as a tutor to deaf students; he served as both a mentor and a role model. Active in various organizations of the deaf. After retirement, moved to Washington DC; died of pneumonia at Columbus Colony, Westerville, OH.