Gallaudet Researcher, Author Arthur N. Schildroth Dies at 75

From: Washington Post, DC - Apr 12, 2003

Saturday, April 12, 2003; Page B08

Arthur N. Schildroth, 75, whose work for 23 years as a senior research associate at Gallaudet University included a long-running national study of hearing-impaired children across the country, died of cancer April 7 at his Silver Spring home.

He retired in 1996 from the university's research center, where one of his interests was the effect of educational placements on the academic success of deaf and hard-of-hearing students. Much of his research tracked the changes that took place as children across the country moved from special schools into mainstream educational systems.

He also advised educators on achievement testing of deaf children and wrote extensively on deaf education issues. His books included "Deaf Children in America" and "Deaf Students and the School-to-Work Transition."

Mr. Schildroth was born in East St. Louis, Ill. He was a graduate of St. Louis University, where he also received master's degrees in English and theology. He did additional graduate work in theology at Marquette University.

He served in the Army Signal Corps after World War II and then entered the Jesuit order. He was ordained in 1961.

While serving in Milwaukee, he was active in civil rights protests and in the antiwar movement. He left the priesthood in 1968.

Before moving to the Washington area, Mr. Schildroth taught at a high school in Kansas City, Mo., and at St. Louis University. In St. Louis, he was a caseworker and guidance counselor with the American Red Cross and a rehabilitation specialist for the deaf and program coordinator at the Jewish Employment and Vocational Services.

He was a member of the Winding Orchard Citizens Association.

His marriage to Sandra Sturm Schildroth ended in divorce.

Survivors include his wife of 23 years, Claudia Schildroth of Silver Spring; three children from his first marriage, Laura Gonzalez of Columbia, Mo., Erik Schildroth of Aspen, Colo., and Carrie Schildroth of Brooklyn, N.Y.; a stepdaughter, Jenni Norton of Martinez, Calif.; and two granddaughters.

© 2003 The Washington Post Company