Elaine Gillies, ’85, recalls, “I remember Alice from the time I was twelve and living in the girls’
residence. She would visit all the residences on her own. I remember her coming to the girls’
residence often after school, and we girls would have tons of fun playing with her. Alice knew ASL
words like ‘come,’ ‘lay down,’ ‘sit,’ ‘water,’ and ‘play.’ She could recognize her own name sign.”
Kevin DiGiuseppe, ’84, was interviewed, and his remembrances of Alice are as follows: “I
adopted Alice as my pet at SJW and got to know her well while I was living in the senior boys’
residence as an intermediate student. I remember after school we students would play football, and
Alice would try to catch the football. She was crazy about balls. At the baseball field at other times
while we were playing baseball, she would sometimes catch the ball and hang on to it in a playful
manner with her tail wagging and a smile on her face. She liked to tease us. We would all be telling
Alice, ‘Give it back!’ for we wanted to continue the game. We would also throw a ball and she would
fetch it, but she would not bring it back to us. She would stop, sit, and tease us. Later, she learned to
drop it on the ground in front of us. Alice was brought to the gym as our mascot while we played
sports games with other schools. The other schools thought it was so cool.”
On Thursday, May 3, 1979, Alice was let out early that morning by a casual counselor on duty,
for Rosemary was not on duty that night. She was let out to do her bathroom business, and she
wandered out onto Palmer Road through the open gate. When she did not return, a search was
conducted. She was found on the road, dead. She had died of the wounds from the impact. Three
resident boys were asked to help carry her to Hodgson Woods, the forest behind the old junior
school where the school administration thought would be the best place to bury her. They also were
asked to prepare a grave for her that morning. A hasty funeral was held that afternoon by students
and staff because the next day was home-going. Dr. Demeza, the superintendent, gave the tribute to
__
Alice at the funeral. Students lined up to
spread soil on her grave as their way of saying
goodbye to her.
That year, a cement tombstone was
made by a graduating student, but the stone
broke into four pieces due to weathering
factors over time. Early in the 2000s, the
broken pieces were collected by a teacher and
his class and the stone kept in the school’s
archives.
On October 20, 2009, an "Alice Day"
was held to commemorate her and a new
tombstone unveiled. Various deaf associations
and students contributed to the purchase of a
new stone. This event took place thirty years
after her death.
On October 20, 2019, another “Alice
Day” is being planned to mark the 40th
anniversary after her death. We hope to have
special visitors Claire Mowat and Rosemary
Ryer attend the event.
Students who walked through the doors
of the school fondly remember Alice. They
taught her some ASL words, and she, in turn,
showed them the invaluable lessons of love,
life, and death.
The Power of ASL
9
Summer 2019 – Issue 14