NORWICH – James Carlyle Marsters, beloved husband, father, and grandfather, retired orthodontist, inventor, and advocate of the oral deaf community, died comfortably after a short illness on July 28, 2009 in Oakland, Calif. He was 85.
Born in Norwich, on April 5, 1924, Jim became deaf as an infant. He graduated from the Wright Oral School for the Deaf in NYC in 1943, earned a BS from Union College in 1947, graduated from the NYU School of Dentistry in 1952 and completed a Masters in orthodontics at USC in 1954. He started a solo orthodontic practice in Pasadena, Calif. in 1954 and ran it until his retirement in 1990. He is believed to be the first deaf orthodontist in the United States.
His most outstanding contribution to the deaf community started in 1964, when he teamed up with two other deaf pioneers, Dr. Robert Weitbrecht and Andrew Saks, to develop an innovative text telephone system (TTYs) that allowed the deaf to meet and communicate with each other by telephone from home.
In 1955, he married Alice Amelia Dorsey, the preschool director at the John Tracy Clinic, and raised three children. He enjoyed fishing, sailing, soaring, genealogy, investing, and roaming the country on family vacations in his motor home.
He was active in the deaf and hearing communities – holding membership in the Masonic Lodge, Rotary and Kiwanis Club, and the American Dental Association. He served as vice president of the Alexander Graham Bell Assn and was one of the four founding members of its Oral Deaf Adult Section. He was given the association’s highest award, “Honors of the Association” in 1990 for “extreme dedication to and sustained efforts to the betterment of the lives of people with hearing loss.”
He was preceded in death by Alice, his beloved wife of 49 years. After her death in 2003 he moved to Oakland, remaining active in the deaf community and enjoying the company of family and friends. He is survived by his children Jim Jr. of Oakland, Jean and Guy of Pasadena, and grandchildren Andrew and Anna.
A memorial service is planned for the weekend of Oct. 24-25 in Oakland. Donations may be made in his memory to the Jean Weingarten Peninsula Oral School, 3518 Jefferson Ave., Redwood City, CA 94062 or to the John Tracy Clinic, 806 West Adams Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90007.