Leonard Asbridge has devoted his adult life to serving other deaf people in the Southeast U.S. Handsome, well groomed and articulate, he carries his 79 years comfortably. He and his wife, Doris, have been married 45 years and have two daughters and four grandchildren. He remains very active in the First Baptist Church of Memphis, Tenn., continues to drive in heavy traffic and maintains a keen interest in state and national affairs in the deaf community.

A native of Tennessee, he received his education at the Tennessee School for the Deaf and has lived in Memphis about 52 years. His sign language is precise and very easy to understand, reflecting his many years in the pulpit.

Most of my life has been involved with church work. A long time ago, many deaf people had no leadership within the church. They needed a leader, so I became a minister to the deaf, a licensed minister, not an ordained minister. I drew up a schedule where every month, one week I would go to one church and the next week go to another church and the third and fourth week and so forth, and I would rotate between the churches. We always had good attendance. I continued that schedule for 17 years and established many churches for the deaf in Mississippi and Arkansas. I also ministered to the deaf in Jackson, Mississippi, for 14 years plus the 17 years with the deaf in Southeast Mississippi; a total of 21 years. I also had a job. I worked from eleven at night to seven in the morning--the lobster shift. I would come home Saturday morning, have breakfast about eight, then I would bathe and get ready for my trip to a certain city to preach that Sunday.

I guess you can say I always had two jobs. I was a minister, but I also worked as a printer in the composing room of a newspaper. I did extra work with the deaf. I taught Sunday School. I established more churches for the deaf and the churches really helped in many ways because so many deaf people had nothing to do; they'd get off the track and get into trouble and have so many problems.

After I set up these churches, many parents with deaf children became interested and brought their deaf children to the church. They would bring food baskets, we'd have Sunday School then move into the church and have morning worship service for one hour, then the ladies would spread out the baskets of food on the tables. After lunch we would have a time of fellowship and a one-hour afternoon worship service. After that, everybody would leave and I'd drive back home. Sometimes I'd drive 350 miles one way to preach. I'd get home at night and be worn out.

Then I saw that the deaf people needed to have their own convention. You've often heard about the Southern Baptist Church Convention, right? Well, we had one preacher come and visit us in the Silent Department of the First Baptist Church in Memphis. He'd come to attend the Southern Baptist Convention. He told us so many different things about the Convention. So many interesting things. When I thought about it, I said, "Why don't you come to my home? I have a lot to tell you." So he came to my home and we had lunch together and I asked him why not set up a Southern Baptist Conference of the Deaf? Well, he was very interested in the idea; he said it would be good to have a conference with deaf people coming from different states to meet together. He said we couldn't use their name, so we changed it to the South Wide Baptist Conference of the Deaf. He came several times over a period of several months to help us organize a conference.

We sent letters out to the different churches and asked them to send a representative to help organize a conference for the deaf. In December, 1948, we had assembled 21 people from seven states to discuss the proposal. After that, we decided to establish the South Wide Convention of the Deaf. It's now in its 37th year.

Seven years later, I could see the need to have the Tennessee Baptist Conference of the Deaf meet annually at the Baptist Camps at Linden, and Camp Carson, Newport. We went to Nashville to talk to the secretary of the Tennessee Baptist Convention but he kept saying there was no money. So for seven years we had to put off and we about gave up. Then they installed a new secretary and we went back to talk to him and this new secretary was very interested and gave the O.K. to go ahead with the conference.

In 1955, we went and established the Tennessee Baptist Conference of the Deaf, which is now going on 30 years old. Both have grown quite a lot and have brought a lot of spirit to different deaf people. For example, someone is looking for a mate. They will wait for the conference and meet new people and that way find a boyfriend or a girlfriend and get married. Meeting different people from different parts of the state, just like many men find there are no girls near their homes so they go to a conference. That really helps them start their lives.

In my work as a traveling preacher, I wore out three cars. I would use my car often. Sometimes, if it was far, I'd fly; sometimes I'd take the bus or train. It would depend on the weather and the distance. I traveled different ways. If I didn't have enough time, then I would fly. Many times I had to pay my own way. I paid for my own cars. Often I would sleep at the homes of deaf people and sometimes I stayed at hotels. Sometimes, someone would fail to meet me at the train station or airport so I would sleep on a hard bench.

Once I arrived at a train station and there was no one to meet me. It was ten at night and I couldn't find a hotel room because of a big football game and all the parties. I asked the agent at the train station if I could sleep on the bench because there was no room to sleep anywhere else and he said, "O.K., fine. I'll watch you." So I gave him my money to put in the safe and slept on the bench all night.

When I had to sleep at the train or bus station, I'd get up in the morning, wash up and go to church and preach and talk with people until afternoon or night. Then I'd take the train or bus again and arrive home late.

Naturally, a preacher has to accept all this hardship because it is part of his humble work.

One time I drove to Columbus, Mississippi. On my way back home I went through a tornado and had to stop on the highway, put on my emergency brake and lock the car up. I could see the tornado coming. I saw a dairy barn caught up in the tornado, pieces of a tin roof wrapped around the limbs of a tree, bricks being tossed on the highway. My car was being lifted up and down and my heart was pumping away. I kept praying to the Lord, praying, "Oh, Lord, Lord, keep the car down, keep the car down," and I kept calling that until I could calm down. Finally, the storm subsided and I started to drive but it was so bumpy because of all the bricks on the road, across the highway, and I had to stop. I couldn't make it. It was six at night and I was trying to get home before dark. A state trooper came by and told me to drive around the trees and he guided me. Then for about three miles it was all muddy, bumpy, country roads, but I finally got home.

My wife was so worried, she almost worried to death. She could see the muddy car and asked me what happened, if I had run into a ditch. I told her no, I had to detour because of the tornado and fallen trees on the highway.

There are so many things that have happened. It really has been a wonderful experience and a blessing through the years. I worked as a minister to the deaf because I felt that deaf people needed God more than anything else. Many people seemed so far from that but I'd ask them to listen and sometimes they'd get the idea of what the truth was in life.

One time I happened to pick a passage from the Bible talking about alcoholics, about being drunk and misleading people. I preached about that and I told them it wasn't good to drink a lot of alcohol. It could spoil your mind, damage your brain, mislead you in many different ways and make you boastful. I mentioned various other problems. When I was finished with that, I had 19 people accept Jesus as their Savior, but one man wouldn't and he just sat there. He asked, "When you close, can I talk to you?" So after closing we went to another room to talk and he said, "I know that when you were preaching, you were pointing at me." I said, "No. I just happened to pick that passage out of the Bible. I didn't know anything about you." Well, he was very angry because he was a heavy drinker. He said, "I had decided to shoot you. I have a gun with me at all times." And sure enough, he had a gun with him and he was planning to shoot the preacher. I was in shock, my heart was beating away. I explained to him that I didn't mean him when I was giving the sermon, I was just giving the sermon from the Bible and showing what the Bible was saying about drinking and how it can really hurt you. He finally calmed down. About two months later, he decided to accept Jesus Christ as his Savior and he swore off drinking. I was happy to hear about that. Oh, and one or two years later he died of a heart attack.

How did I meet Doris, my wife? I was in Dallas in 1937 during the World's Fair. I went there and was registered in a hotel for one week. On the morning of the next day I happened to see many deaf people around the hotel sitting and talking away. They said they were there for the TAD (Texas Association of the Deaf) Convention. We talked about what we were doing. I told them I was from Memphis and that I had come to look around at the World's Fair. Someone suggested, "Why don't you join the TAD Convention, then you can get in the fair for free." So I joined them and stayed for the whole week and enjoyed myself. That's where I met Doris. Her home was in Fort Worth but she had come to Dallas to attend the convention and the banquet.

It was on Saturday night at the banquet and I asked her for a dance. I remember I smashed her foot (chuckles) and she pushed me back hard. I fell into a chair. She said, "Hey, you stepped on my foot." I said "Oh, I'm sorry," and she said "Boy, I'm sick of that man. Get lost." Instead she married me (laughs).

I went to Tennessee School for the Deaf. Doris attended the Central Institute for the Deaf in St. Louis. It's an oral school. She can talk and has pretty good speech. It's not high, about average. After we married, it took me 40 years to teach her sign language (laughs affectionately).

We have two daughters. Both of them went to college, one on a scholarship. My oldest daughter works in Jackson, Mississippi as a CPA. She is the manager of the firm's administration and marketing programs and also has consulting responsibilities in private business section. She has received promotions regularly over the years. My other daughter lives in Memphis. She makes three or four trips to Europe every year. She and her husband have an antique and interior decorating shop. Both are very good and busy. Oh, yes, we have four grandchildren. It's wonderful.

When I retired from printing in 1973, I thought I would have enough time to write a history of the South Wide Baptist Conference of the Deaf, but over the years I find that I'm busier now than when I had a job. I've never found an easy chair. I feel comfortable and am in good health. Doris had some problems but she is all right now.

I've been involved with the Tennessee Association of the Deaf for a long time but it's harder now to drive so far to their meetings. I still pay for the National Association of the Deaf, but I'm behind one year in my dues. I think the individual states work better with their own people but we need to know about national affairs, what's going on with people everywhere. The NAD, probably, has more influence than the TAD.

Are deaf people changing? Yes, there is a big difference. Many years ago, people cared more for one another. But nowadays people don't seem to care for one another. In the old times, the people helped other people. If someone was sick, they would cook for them, help them. They would be very happy to mow their lawn, to paint if they needed help. But nowadays people don't care. If a person's sick, they don't help him. People don't seem to give time or talents. People only think of what they want to what they need. Mine, mine, mine, that's the attitude these days. Many people just take from Uncle Sam.

Some new things are good. Our minister, Buddy Burgess, brought a TTY telephone coupler a man had generously donated and said we could use it as long as we wanted. At first, I thought that it really wasn't necessary because I had my daughters to help me with the telephone but my wife wanted it to contact other deaf people. A few months later, I was taken ill--very bad sickness--and needed to be taken to the hospital by ambulance. My wife used the TTY to contact my daughter. She came over in 15 minutes and took me to the hospital in her car. You can see how the TTY helped. And now I'm keeping that TTY; I'm holding on to it. I won't give it back. It's very helpful in so many ways. Rather than driving all over to see our friends, we can stay home and talk to them on the phone.

We also have a decoder for our TV. My wife and I both enjoy it even though our vision has deteriorated somewhat. I'd change glasses but the doctor told me I can't get any better glasses and my vision is limited. I use a magnifying glass to read small type, but I still drive. I drive to church every Sunday on Poplar Avenue, one of the busiest streets in Memphis. Anyway, we watch TV a lot. We enjoy the captioned programs and try not to miss the news. Doris says I watch too much football, but she is hooked on "Dynasty," so I let her have it (laughs). I watch it with her to keep her company.

Gail Hyde
Project Coordinator, Web Design