June and Bill Marra, 1990.

William Joseph Marra died on March 13, 1992, at his home in Olathe, Kansas, and was buried at the Oak Lawn Cemetery there. He was 85 years old.

His wife, June, remains active with Olathe Deaf Community activities. She is a member of the Olathe Club of the Deaf, and the Kansas Association of the Deaf. She attends St. Paul's Catholic Church.

Since 1980, their daughter, Rene Marra-Peterson, has been executive secretary to the Superintendent, Gerald Johnson, at the Kansas State School for the Deaf. Their son, John, is a pastor at the Living Hope Church of the Nazarene in Olathe. Grandchildren were added to the family beginning with Andrew (1988), Abbey (1990) and Alex Marra (1997).

It has never ceased to amaze us that our husband, father, and grandfather, born of Italian immigrants, was such a successful man. He was a man who just happened to be Deaf. He was the only child of seven in his family to get a college education. He was the only one who could drive a car. He was content with the small pleasures in life: a good meal, a newspaper, the evening news, and his family. He was a saver. He was a collector. He collected stamps, pinbacks, magnets, and Kansas School for the Deaf memorabilia. And because of the collector in him, he left Kansas School for the Deaf and the Deaf Communities throughout the U.S. with a record of its history: a history to be shared with the hearing world.

June Marra
Renee Marra-Peterson
John Marra
November 2, 1999

Gail Hyde
Project Coordinator, Web Design