Shirley Werner

Deaf Mother of the Year 2002

Shirley Roop Werner of Staunton, VA, has been selected the Deaf Mother of the Year 2002. Shirley is married to Dawayne Werner, and she is the mother of one son, Patrick, and one daughter, Suzanne, and has four grandchildren.  She was a Physical Education teacher at VSDB-Staunton for 26 years until she retired in 1991.  Shirley is a member of the Skyline Chapter of the Virginia Association of the Deaf, and she co-chaired the Silent Auction at the 1999 VAD Conference in Staunton, VA.  She is the Secretary of the Blue Ridge Deaf Senior Citizens, the President of Iota Chi Chapter of the Phi Kappa Zeta Sorority, and was the Chairlady of the Phi Kappa Zeta breakfast at the National Association of the Deaf Conference at Norfolk, Va.  Shirley and her husband and their children are actively involved in community service.  She raised her children that way.

Fred Yates

Deaf Father of the Year 2002

Fred Yates of Staunton, VA, has been chosen the Deaf Father of the Year 2002. Fred has been married to Anna "Belle" McClung Yates for over 50 years.  Fred is the father of one son, Ralph, and two daughters, JoBelle and April.  He has six grandchildren and two step-grandchildren.  He is a member of the Skyline Chapter, the Virginia Association of the Deaf, the National Association of the Deaf, The Lions Club of Staunton, VA, the Virginia School for the Deaf Alumni Association, and the Gallaudet University Alumni Association.  He was the Assistant Principal and the Principal at VSDB-Staunton before going to Richmond to head the Virginia Commision for the Deaf, now known as the Virginia Department for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing (VDDHH).  Fred Yates is an ardent researcher who has written the histories of VAD, VRID, the VSD Alumni Association, and the Mason-Dixon Tournament, which he also helped to found.  Fred's three grown children serve their communities well, and his grandchildren are following in their parents' and grandparents' footsteps.