Mary Louisa Canoles Bingham, one of the earliest contributors to deaf ministry and work in Alabama, died Dec. 28. She was 93.
Bingham was a pioneer of Baptist church ministry to the deaf in the state, according to David Richardson, a retired missionary to the deaf in Alabama.
Bingham, who was raised by deaf parents and began interpreting at the age of 3, began her first deaf ministry in the late 1940s at Glen Addie Baptist Church, Anniston.
She later interpreted for the deaf in other Alabama Baptist churches, including First Baptist Church, Birmingham, and Central Park Baptist Church, Birmingham.
In addition to church ministry, Bingham served as a houseparent at schools for the deaf in Alabama, Florida, New Mexico and North Carolina and a teacher at E.H. Gentry Technical Facility, a part of the Alabama Institute for Deaf and Blind in Talladega.
She was also the first interpreter in Alabama to become nationally certified in legal interpreting and one of the first to interpret in an Alabama courtroom.
She also served as president of the Alabama Registry of Interpreters for the Deaf.
Bingham was a member of Wilkes Baptist Church, Midfield, at the time of her death.
She is survived by two daughters, six grandchildren, eight great-grandchildren and two great-great-grandchildren. (TAB)
Share with others: