The Irreplaceable Ellen O’Hara

Yesterday, our friend, sister, and colleague Ellen O’Hara died in a traffic accident near Salt Lake City, Utah. She was an extremely accomplished woman, and touched many lives. Let’s celebrate her!

I first met Ellen when she was no more than three years old. My Deaf Culture class at Brigham Young University had to learn a nursery rhyme or children’s story in ASL, and perform it for local Deaf kids. The large O’Hara family was mix of Deaf, hearing, and hard-of-hearing people, and welcomed us into their home.

We were terrible! The kids gave us blank stares, but were very patient. Luckily, none of them whom I’ve now known for years as adults remember much about that day.

Ellen was well-known and had always been a savvy consumer of interpreters. Because Ellen had exceptional presence, she was a go-to Deaf interpreter I wanted for both paid and pro-bono assignments which required a fearless performer. The last time we worked together, she had just been awarded the Certified Deaf Interpreter credential. She possessed the rare balance of enthusiasm to both teach and learn from hearing interpreters, in equal measure. It was exciting to come full circle with Ellen — at our first meeting, I was about to become an interpreter; at our most recent, she was a newly-minted CDI! It was an honor to witness her success.

Indulge me in one quick memory. Remember the Wells Fargo Video about the adoption of a Deaf girl? To launch the promotion, the company wanted ASL translations of short phrases on the website masthead. Ellen was chosen as the sign model, and I was onsite as interpreter/lady-in-waiting. Here she is being fussed over during a camera check while quickly snarfing some food.

For a brief period, Ellen’s hands were featured in the campaign. I’ll always remember our (long!) day, and the many other times we enjoyed working together. I watched her sign those marketing phrases dozens of times, but the one I can remember most clearly is the lesson for all Deaf–Hearing teams, and indeed everyone:

Thanks, Ellen! Looking forward to retracing our full circle with you again someday!