INCLUSION DAILY EXPRESS -- Heroes, Role Models, Leaders Who Moved On In 2001

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Heroes, Role Models, Leaders Who Moved On In 2001

February 9, 2001: Happy Trails To You, Dale Evans
September 14, 2001: Disability Community Loses Dr. Gunnar Dybwad
September 14, 2001: Terrorist Attack Claims Life Of Long Time Advocate, Colleen Fraser
November 13, 2001: Heidi Van Arnem, Advocate, Media Leader And Entrepreneur Dies

Happy Trails To You, Dale Evans
February 9, 2001
APPLE VALLEY, CALIFORNIA--Dale Evans, the woman who Roy Rogers' dubbed his "Queen of the West", died in her home from congestive heart failure on Wednesday. The wife of the late cowboy singing star was 88.

Evans appeared in 35 movies, wrote 400 songs, and 20 books. One of those books, the 1953 best-seller "Angel Unaware", was about Robin Elizabeth, the only child born to the couple. Robin, who had Down syndrome, died from complications associated with the mumps when she was just two years old.

Through her book, Evans helped remove the stigma associated with having a family member with a disability, according to Dick Sobsey, Director of the JP Das Developmental Disabilities Centre in Edmonton, Alberta. "When Dale Evans had the strength of character to speak proudly of having a child with a developmental disability, she blazed a trail through a frightening wilderness for other parents."

Sobsey paid tribute to "The Other Dale Evans" in the following essay, which is posted with his permission on the Inclusion Daily Express website:
http://www.inclusiondaily.com/news/daleevans.htm

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Disability Community Loses Dr. Gunnar Dybwad
By Dave Reynolds, Inclusion Daily Express
September 14, 2001

NEEDHAM, MASSACHUSETTS--Gunnar Dybwad, considered by many to be the "grandfather of self-advocacy", has passed away.

The man who for more than five decades had been a relentless advocate for the rights of people with developmental disabilities died while recovering from a hip injury he sustained last week. He was 92.

With his wife Rosemary, who died in 1992, Gunnar Dybwad played a major role in the disability rights movement for people with mental retardation, particularly during the early years. He was the Executive Director of the Association for Retarded Children (now called The Arc) from 1957 until 1963 and was President of the International League of Societies for Persons with Mental Handicap (later called Inclusion International) from 1978 to 1982.

Dr. Dybwad was a consultant to the President’s Committee on Mental Retardation and served as a Special Assistant on Mental Retardation to President John Kennedy. In 1967 he became a professor of human development at Brandeis University in Waltham, Massachusetts, and in 1977 became professor emeritus.

He continued to support disability rights in several important court cases.

According to friends and associates, a memorial is being planned at Brandeis University for a date in October yet to be determined.

Do you have any favorite memories of Dr. Dybwad that you would like to share? Join a discussion on the Inclusion Daily Express message board:
http://members5.boardhost.com/InclusionDaily

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Terrorist Attack Claims Life Of Long Time Advocate
By Dave Reynolds, Inclusion Daily Express
September 14, 2001

TRENTON, NEW JERSEY--One of the victims of Tuesday's tragedies was Colleen Fraser, who served as chair of the New Jersey Developmental Disabilities Council for five years beginning in 1990.

Fraser was a passenger on United Airlines flight 93 which took off from Newark for San Francisco Tuesday morning. The plane was hijacked by terrorists over Ohio and crashed in rural Pennsylvania.

According to a statement from the council, Fraser was elected vice chair in July of this year.

She was on her way to a grant writing seminar to boost her skills for her new job as executive director of Progressive Center for Independent Living (PCIL), the independent living center for Mercer and Hunterdon counties in New Jersey.

More details are available from the New Jersey Developmental Disabilities Council website:
http://www.njddc.org/colleen-l-fraser.htm

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Advocate, Media Leader And Entrepreneur Dies
November 13, 2001

BIRMINGHAM, MICHIGAN--The disability community lost a young, hard-working advocate and media leader this past weekend.

Heidi Van Arnem, 35, the founder and CEO of iCan! Inc., and iCan.com died Sunday morning of respiratory failure.

Ms. Van Arnem dedicated her life to breaking down barriers to people with disabilities after he was paralyzed at the age of 16 from a gunshot wound to the neck.

Ten years ago Van Arnem started her own travel agency, and since 1992 ran the nonprofit Heidi Van Arnem Foundation. She was a member of the Michigan Commission on Disability Concerns, was named in the Top 25 Women on the Web in 2000, and was awarded the da Vinci Accessibility Award for information technology.

Just 2 1/2 years ago she started iCan.com which has since become a major resource of information and services for people with disabilities.

More details on Van Arnem's life and memories of those whose lives she touched are available from iCan's home page:
http://www.ican.com

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