Previous Board Members

This page is currently under construction and will contain biographies on previous board members. If you see any errors, please let us know.

Name (DOB - DOD)

Title (Year)

Biography goes here.

Dold, John Jacob (J.J.)
February 23, 1866 - September 19, 1943
President (1909, 1911), Board Member (1923, 1940)

Photo: Kansas School for the Deaf Baseball Club of 1900. He was the manager. (JOCOHISTORY website)

John Jacob Dold, who went by his middle name Jacob, was born on February 23, 1866, in Iowa to German immigrants. He attended the Iowa School for the Deaf. In 1892, a young deaf woman from Illinois, Mary Eva Ore, accepted a teaching position at KSD. She was the daughter of Benjamin Kier Ore and Esther Ann Cline, and was a valedictorian of the Illinois School for the Deaf. She had been granted a scholarship to Gallaudet, but Dr. Phillip G. Gillett, one of the world's foremost educators of the deaf, offered her a position at Illinois instead. Four years later, in 1896, Mary became Jacob's wife in Amboy, Illinois, and taught for two more years before taking a break until 1917, when she resumed teaching until her death. They had two children: Jacob J. Jr. (1902) and Chester Wilfred (1905).

Jacob started going by J.J., possibly to avoid confusion with the Jacob Dold packaging plant.

On July 25, 1920, Jacob's wife Eva passed away at the age of 51.

He taught for over 45 years at the Kansas School for the Deaf. While visiting his son, Jacob Jr., he passed away at 77 in Santa Clara, California. His final resting place is in Elmwood Cemetery in Kansas City, Missouri.

Instructor, Kansas School (Olathe, Kansas) - 1905, 1906, 1907, 1908, 1909, 1910

Paxton, Edward Seymour (14 Mar 1860 - 13 Jan 1932)

2nd Vice-President (1909)

Edward Seymour Paxton, Sr. was born deaf on March 14, 1860, in New Creek, Hampshire County, Virginia, before the Civil War split Virginia into two states. His parents were . He entered the Kansas School for the Deaf in 1879 and was honorably discharged after attending two terms. He married a deaf woman, Lillian Taylor Wise, on October 4, 1881, in Kansas City, Missouri. They had the following children: Edward Seymour Jr., Arthur, and Gladys Beatrice.

Their son Arthur suffered from mental illness (possibly schizophrenia) and was "lucid most of the time, but at times he has spells in which he says himself he does not know what he is doing." He once asked for a razor, intending to do bodily harm to himself, administered a whipping to a neighbor's child, and had to be pulled off the child by neighbors. His wife, Florence, feared for her own life and had him admitted to the Topeka state hospital. After he was released from the hospital, he took his own life on April 6, 1911, by drinking a bottle of carbolic acid in front of his mother and Sheriff Slaymaker.

Birthplace: New Creek, Hampshire County, Virginia (before the Civil War caused Virginia to be split into two states)
Student, Kansas Institution for the Education of the Deaf and Dumb - entered school in 1879 and was honorably discharged after attending two terms. (Lyon County, Kansas). His deafness was believed to be congenital.
Married Lillian Taylor Wise on October 4, 1881.
Death Place: Wichita, Sedgwick County, Kansas
Burial: White Chapel Memorial Gardens, Wichita, Sedgwick County, Kansas
Obituary:
Edward Seymour Paxton, 72, of 202 North Spruce, died at his home this morning. Mr. Paxton came to Wichita from Hollywood, Cal., in 1929. He was a member of the Christian church. He is survived by his wife, Lillian W.; one daughter, Mrs. Gladys B. Kobel; one son, Edward, Jr., of Hollywood; one sister, Mrs. Suzanne Talbot, of Wheeling, W. Va.; and one brother, Lonidas, of St. Joseph, Mo. Funeral arrangements will be announced by Downing mortuary.
[Evening Eagle, Wichita, Kansas, Wednesday, January 13, 1932]

Edward passed away on January 13, 1932. His final resting place is White Chapel Memorial Gardens in Wichita.

Sickel, Henry (DOB - DOD)

2nd Vice President (1911)

Biography goes here.

Simpson, Emmette Wesley (October 30, 1881 - May 6, 1963)

Secretary (1909), President (1914)

Emmette Wesley Simpson was born on October 30, 1881, in McPherson County, Kansas, to James Wesley and Susan Adaline Simpson. He was the eldest of four children, who included Thomas Clifford, James Ross, and Laura Jane. Emmette's two brothers, Thomas and James, both had hearing loss. His uncle, Lacey Simpson, was a Kansas State Senator who lost his bid for governor to Alf Landon, who would become the 26th governor of Kansas. Emmette began to lose his hearing at the age of five, but he was able to pursue his education in common schools until he was thirteen, when he entered the Kansas School for the Deaf (KSD) and graduated in 1899. He was described as a "semi-mute and finds no trouble at all to get with hearing people." Five years after graduation, he spent two years at the Central Normal College in Great Bend and a year at Kansas State Agricultural College in Manhattan.

Two significant milestones occurred in 1905: his marriage and his brother's death. On June 21, 1905, he married a hearing woman named Clara Maude George in McPherson County, Kansas. Clara was described as an accomplished young lady and one of the leading teachers in McPherson County. Nearly two months later, on August 9, his youngest brother, James, who was a member of the 1906 KSD Senior Oral Class, was killed by a train at Holton at the age of 17. Emmette and his wife, Clara, would welcome two children in 1906 and 1908: Edith Adeline and Emmette Wesley Jr.

On January 29, 1909, a letter to the editor appeared in the McPherson Daily Republican, written by Emmette, who protested a bill introduced in the legislature to combine the state's penal and charitable institutions under one board of control. The bill proposed the institutions that would come under the control of the board would be the penitentiary at Lansing; the boys' reformatory at Hutchinson; the girls' reformatory at Beloit; the state insane hospitals at Topeka, Oswatomie, and Parsons; the school for the feeble-minded at Winfield; the school for the blind at Kansas City; and the school for the deaf at Olathe. Read the letter.

Emmette was 27 when he was elected Secretary at the inaugural convention for the Kansas Association for the Deaf on July 5, 1909. Iona A. Tade was elected 1st Vice-President (she would later become his sister-in-law when she married his brother Thomas in 1913). A year later, in 1910, Emmette and Clara welcomed their third child, Bessie Irene.

On March 23, 1912, Emmette delivered an address named "Agricultural Education for the Deaf" at his alma mater, KSD, and it was printed in the Kansas Star on April 1. He and his brother, Thomas, managed a 325-acre farm named Simpson Bros. near Canton in the fertile valley of the Arkansas and bred Jersey Red or Duroc Hogs. He believed thoroughly in the back-to-the-soil movement, but he desired to see the Deaf who take up farming prepared in the best possible way for the problems they will encounter on the farm. He did not believe that the schools for the deaf gave adequate training in the farming industry. Download the address.

On January 23, 1913, Emmette, as the president of the Association of Deaf People of Central Kansas, announced the annual masquerade social would be held in Newton on February 22. The association had 250 members, and the officers were E.S. Paxton (1st vice president, Newton), Mrs. O.L. Paulson (2nd vice president, Eureka), W.E. Wait (secretary, Sawyer), and Ross Davison (treasurer, Wichita). The purpose of the association was to "promote the general welfare of the deaf, socially, spiritually, and otherwise." Emmette said, "People have no idea how many deaf there are in Kansas. There are approximately 2,000 adults alone." He added that Professor Hammond, who was the former KSD superintendent, would attend the social, serve as the "official interpreter," and also give an address. The Association of Deaf People of Central Kansas was founded in 1890 with its headquarters located in Wichita.

On November 2, 1913, Emmette and his family were in a serious car accident south of Hesston while en route to Newton. The family was traveling with the Petz family when Mr. Petz's car collided with a motorcycle rider hidden behind a large hedge. Mr. and Mrs. Petz perished in the accident while Emmette's wife and children were seriously injured. However, Emmette and the Petz's son escaped serious injury. The motorcycle rider was bruised up and had one foot badly lacerated.

In August 1914, Emmette was elected President at the 3rd Biennial KAD Convention in Kansas City, Kansas. The Kansas State Board of Agriculture was to take a census of the state in March 1915. The census would include Schedule 4, which read as follows: deaf and dumb; blind; idiotic and insane; in the Township of [name], County of [name], State of Kansas, on the 1st day of March, 1915. Then follow eleven columns headed in sequence as follows: name; sex; color; deaf and dumb; insane; blind; idiotic; have they attended school?; parent or guardian; and P.O. address of parent or guardian. As the KAD president, Emmette did not hesitate to criticize the schedule and told Secretary Mohler, the state board of agriculture's secretary, that it did not "give the deaf credit for good citizenship, especially those who are dependent upon themselves for their daily bread." Secretary Mohler responded promptly on December 15, 1914, and wrote, "We think well of your suggestions, and have adopted them. We have changed 'Deaf and Dumb' to 'Deaf-Mute,' and on the schedule for those defective we have inserted, at the top in plain view, the following note:

"In case of deaf-mutes who rely on themselves for a livelihood, leave column 10 blank, and fill out column 11. The record will show those who are self-supporting, as well as those dependent on others for their care."

In April 1915, the family moved to Baca County, Colorado, where Emmette would work as a farmer and stock raiser. On February 14, 1917, Emmette's wife, Clara, passed away at their home at the age of 30. Emmette was left a widower with three children between the ages of 6 and 10. A year later, he remarried Myrtle Eva Murphy at her parents' house in Topeka, Kansas. Myrtle was a graduate of Topeka High School and the Chicago Art Institute - an accomplished artist with a specialty in china painting. Emmette and Myrtle welcomed two children in 1922 and 1926: Donald Ralph and Evelyn Grace. On July 9, 1939, his daughter, Bessie, passed away from a brief illness in a hospital in Santa Barbara County, California, leaving a husband and two small daughters behind. During his residency in Colorado, Emmette was a founding member and president of the Colorado Association for the Deaf.

In 1942, Emmette and Myrtle retired to Napa, California, after operating a ranch in Springfield, Colorado, for many years. He was the secretary of the San Francisco Club for the Deaf for several years, past vice president of the California Association of the Deaf, and a lifetime member of the National Fraternal Society of the Deaf. He passed away on May 6, 1963, in a hospital in Vallejo, California, and his final resting place is Lafayette Cemetery in Lafayette, California. He left behind his wife, Myrtle, and four living children: Edith, Emmette Jr., and Donald; 20 grandchildren and 16 great-grandchildren.

Tade, Iona Anne (3 Aug 1880 - 25 Feb 1977)

1st Vice-President (1909 as Iona A. Tade), Board Member (1923, 1926, 1940 as Mrs. T.C. Simpson)

Iona Anne Tade was born in Illinois to George W. Tade and Eliza L. Lovellette. The Tade family relocated to Comanche County, Kansas, between 1883 and 1887. It is unknown how Iona became deaf and started attending the Kansas School for the Deaf (KSD). She was described as someone who "talks well but is deaf." She was a member of the Sunflower Success Club and the Ionian Society, serving as secretary. She was also the secretary of the girls' basketball club. At her KSD graduation in 1902, she gave an oral presentation of her essay, "Paddle Your Own Canoe".

While a student at Gallaudet College in Washington, D.C., she shook hands with President Theodore Roosevelt. During her graduation ceremony on May 1, 1907, Secretary of the Interior James R. Garfield (son of former President James A. Garfield) delivered the principal address. Iona delivered an oration on "The Kansas Prairie" and quoted from Longfellow's "Evangeline". She was one of seven students who received a Bachelor of Arts degree - the others were Robert Earl Brinkley (Indiana), Susie Dickson (Washington), George Henry Faupel (Maryland), Frank Clark Horton (Colorado), John Harvie McFarlane (Minnesota), and May Thornton (Kansas).

Following graduation, she became a teacher of the deaf at the Wisconsin School for the Deaf (WSD) in Delavan, where she taught gymnastics and calisthenics. On December 8, 1908, she moved to Sulphur, Oklahoma, and became a teacher in the manual (sign language) department at the Oklahoma School for the Deaf (OSD) - the school also had an oral department where the use of sign language was prohibited. During her time as a teacher at OSD (1908-1912), she taught literature and served as assistant principal. She was 28 when she was elected 1st Vice-President at the inaugural Kansas Association for the Deaf Convention in Wichita. From August 6-13, 1910, she attended the conventions for the ninth National Association of the Deaf (NAD) and the third World Congress of the Deaf in Colorado Springs, Colorado.

Her teaching career at OSD ended when she married Thomas Clifford Simpson (younger brother to Emmette Wesley Simpson) on July 30, 1913, in Cherokee, Oklahoma, at the home of her sister, Mina Tade Daughtery. The newlyweds moved to Kansas City, Missouri. Their first son, James Clifford Simpson, was born on July 18, 1914, in Goessel, Kansas. By then, the family had moved back to Thomas' hometown in Spring Valley in 1915.

In 1916, the family moved to Colorado to be closer to her brother-in-law Emmette Simpson's family. Iona composed a poem named "Colorado or Bust", which was printed in The Springfield Herald (June 23, 1916).

The morning sun was rising fast,

As through an eastern village passed

A youth, who drove with tho'tful air

Taylor, Luther Haden (February 21, 1877 - August 22, 1958)

1st Vice-President (1917)

Born February 21, 1877, in Oskaloosa, Kansas, Luther Haden Taylor was the fifth child of Arnold B. Taylor and Emeline Chapman. He joined siblings Isadora, Dennis, Fannie, and Simpson. A sixth sibling, Bessie, was born in 1880. Luther was not the only deaf person in the family - two of his siblings were also deaf (Fannie and Bessie).

On November 22, 1931, Luther's wife Della died of influenza. She was a teacher at the Iowa School for the Deaf.

Wait, Bessie Emily Taylor (1880 - July 17, 1936)

1st Vice President (1914)

Born in 1880, Bessie Emily Taylor was the last child born to Arnold B. Taylor and Emeline Chapman. She joined her older siblings: Isadora, Dennis, Fannie, Simpson, and Luther Haden. Her hearing loss was more likely congenital since two of her siblings were also deaf: Fannie and Luther. Her brother, Luther, would become a well-known deaf baseball player named "Dummy" Taylor. She entered the Kansas School for the Deaf (KSD) in 1888 at the age of 8, joining Fannie, who graduated in 1892, and Luther, who graduated in 1895. She also had a second cousin, Nile Shaw, who was a student. Bessie graduated in 1898 along with Emmette W. Simpson, who was in the same graduating class. At her graduation ceremony on June 13, 1899, she presented an essay she wrote, "My School Days," in sign language, the words being read as she signed.

She married William Edmund Wait on October 22, 1902, at her parents' house, in the presence of the Reverend W.T. Jones. A large number of out-of-town friends were in attendance. The newlyweds left on the 4:30 train for their future home in Sawyer. There was not less than twenty pounds of rice thrown at the depot by the friends who had gathered to bid them Godspeed. During their marriage, they welcomed the following children: Mabel Dolliver (1903), Taylor (1905), Bonnie (1908), Mary Jane (1911), Isa (1913), Evelyn (1914), William Clark (1916), Roger Wayne (1917), and Gerald Max (1921). Their son Taylor died on July 30, 1906, at the age of 7 months. Their daughter Evelyn married Burchard Rutherford Keach, Jr., whose parents, Burchard Rutherford Keach Sr. and Nettie Spence, were both deaf.

On July 4, 1910, the Southern Kansas and Oklahoma Association of Deaf Mutes gathered for their annual meeting at Riverside Park in Wichita. Bessie was elected vice-president of the organization, and William was elected secretary (Emmette W. Simpson was president).

In 1911, Bessie became ill with typhoid and was under the care of a trained nurse. The town of Sawyer was currently experiencing a typhoid epidemic.

During the third Kansas Association of the Deaf (KAD) convention on August 7-8, 1914, in Kansas City, Bessie was elected 1st Vice President at the age of 34. A few months prior, she had just given birth to her daughter, Evelyn, on May 16. Later that year, in November, Bessie was recognized as being the first woman to ever vote at a general election in Paxon township.

On April 10, 1921, their daughter Isa passed away from measles and a combination of other diseases, including bronchial pneumonia. It was discovered after the funeral that two of their sons were also ill with diphtheria.

She passed away at the age of 56 on July 17, 1936, after a long, serious illness in Wichita, and her final resting place is Ellenwood Cemetery in Sawyer, Kansas. She left behind her husband William and seven living children: Mrs. B.R. Keach, Mrs. C.T. Gale, Mary Jane Hart, Bonnie Neill, William Clark, Roger Wayne and Gerald Max.

Wait, William Edmund (15 May 1876 - 28 December 1951)

Treasurer (1909, 1911, 1914, 1917, 1920), 1st Vice President (1936)

William Edmund Wait was born on May 15, 1876, to Edmund Ray Wait and Mary Azuba Pierce in McPherson County, Kansas. He joined his older siblings, Eunice Miranda and Arthur Pierce. William and Arthur both had congenital hearing loss. William, also known as Willie, entered the Kansas School for the Deaf (KSD) in 1885 at the age of 9. His brother Arthur had previously attended KSD for a brief time in 1879, but was honorably discharged. William graduated in 1895 with Luther "Dummy" H. Taylor. William would later marry Luther's younger sister, Bessie.

He married Bessie Emily Taylor on October 22, 1902, at her parents' house in Baldwin in the presence of the Reverend W.T. Jones. A large number of out-of-town friends were in attendance. The newlyweds left on the 4:30 train for their future home in Sawyer, where he worked as a farmer. There was not less than twenty pounds of rice thrown at the depot by the friends who had gathered to bid them Godspeed. During their marriage, they welcomed the following children: Mabel Dolliver (1903), Taylor (1905), Bonnie (1908), Mary Jane (1911), Isa (1913), Evelyn (1914), William Clark (1916), Roger W. (1917), and Gerald Max (1921). Their son Taylor died on July 30, 1906, at the age of 7 months. Their daughter Evelyn married Burchard Rutherford Keach, Jr., whose parents, Burchard Rutherford Keach Sr. and Nettie Spence, were both deaf.

By 1910, William was working as a grain buyer. The same year, the Southern Kansas and Oklahoma Association of Deaf Mutes gathered for their annual meeting on July 4 at Riverside Park in Wichita. William was elected secretary of the organization, and his wife was elected vice-president (Emmette W. Simpson was president). A few days later, on July 9, the inaugural Kansas Association for the Deaf (KAD) convention was held at Riverside Park in Wichita. William was elected treasurer and would remain in that position for four more terms.

William's family moved from Sawyer to Kingman by 1918, and he was working as a miller for Kingman Milling Company. The family moved to Wichita in 1919, where he worked as a repairman at a furniture store. On April 10, 1921, their daughter Isa passed away from measles and a combination of other diseases. Two of their sons were also ill with diphtheria. In 1922, he was listed as a member of the National Fraternal Society of the Deaf, Wichita Chapter No. 75 (F.A.U. Hall 119 S Lawrence, which met on the first Saturdays.

By 1930, William's family was already living in Tulsa, Oklahoma, where he was employed as an electric welder for a tank and boiler company. They stayed in Oklahoma for 21 years before returning to Wichita.

William became a widower at age 60 when Bessie passed away on July 17, 1936, after a long, serious illness in Wichita. The following month, he was elected 1st vice president at the 10th KAD convention in Olathe, held from August 29-31.

He died at the age of 75 on December 28, 1951, at his son Roger's home in Wichita. His final resting place is Ellenwood Cemetery in Sawyer, Kansas. He left behind seven living children: Dolliver Gale, Mary Bocock, Evelyn Keach, Bonnie Bennie, William, Roger, and Gerald; 11 grandchildren, and 3 great-grandchildren.

Wickham, Ethel Rose (February 18, 1892 - November 5, 1973)

Secretary (1914)

Ethel Rose Wickham was born on February 18, 1892, to [unknown] Wickham and Rose Hinman Brakey in Kansas. She had an older brother, William Earl (he went by his middle name Earl). The cause of her deafness is unknown. When she entered the Kansas School for the Deaf (KSD), she was listed as a resident of Kansas City in Wyandotte County.

At KSD, Ethel was described as looking "always the same", acting "when the spirit moves her", her hobby "looking on", favorite amusement "keeping records", reputation as one who is "rising at 6 o'clock", worst trouble in "algebra", nicknamed "Maldy", and her intended future was "becoming a mistress of a dozen pets". She was a member of The Sunflower Success Club and the Christian Endeavor Society. Ethel wrote a senior class poem about herself and her classmates (Floyd Buster, Dora Campbell, Ralph Decker, Winifred Dedrick, Leta Dillon, Edward Foltz, Frank Herrig, Fred Moore, and Ruth Williams):

There is a class in our school,

A class of great renown.

In number they are rather small,

Just ten, from farm and town.

Great fun they have, and study, too,

or else they would not "pass,"

And be the pride of the "pa's" and "ma's"

Of this mighty Senior Class.

They'll graduate in nineteen-ten,

If they mind their "p's" and "q's,"

And always do as they are bid,

And to do bad things refuse.

Fred Moore, he's the President,

And when he looks in the glass,

He sees the lad who is the pride

Of this good old Senior Class.

Five girls there are and five strong boys.

Their names we'll try to state,

T' would take entirely too much space,

Their virtuesto relate.

There's Leta D. and Dora Camp,

Each a short and pretty lass,

But they help keep up the dignity

Of this haughty Senior Class.

There's baby Ruth and little Lee,

Who make another pair,

And you should see how these four

Translate their Latin share.

There's gay Ethel and solemn Ralph

Who are Algebrians, and, Alas!

They work so hard, till told to stop

By this played-out Senior Class.

Freddy, Floyd and little Ed,

Are three of a jolly kind.

They keep the whole class laughing

And are never known to mind.

Now comes Frankie Herrig:

He's the boy the ball can't pass,

So kind and true and cheerful, too,

To this jolly Senior Class.

Their jolly faces you may see,

Upon the big wide stage.

In height they run from short to tall,

And vary some in age.

Now this we'll say before we close,

We're sure each lad and lass,

Will do his best for K.S.D.

And this same old Senior Class.

Ethel graduated from the Kansas School for the Deaf in 1910 and received graduation gifts - a ring from her father and a silver souvenir spoon from her aunt in Lincoln, Nebraska.

Ethel was elected Secretary at the third Kansas Association for the Deaf convention in Kansas City, which took place August 7-8, 1914.

During the years 1913-1919, she was a teacher at the Oklahoma School for the Deaf in Sulphur when she met her future husband, Grover Cleveland Farquhar, who was also a teacher at the school. In 1917, they married at her home in Kansas City. The ceremony was performed vocally by Reverend Stephen A. Northrop and translated into sign language by Mary Creekbaum, a teacher in the Kansas City public schools. They welcomed four daughters: Marre Jo (1921), Charlotte Rose (1922), Dorothy Mae (1925), and Virginia Lee (1927).

In 1920, Ethel and Grover relocated to Akron, Ohio, where Grover worked at a rubber factory, and Ethel was a homemaker. Their eldest daughter, Marre, was born in Akron.

In 1921, they relocated to Fulton, Missouri, where Grover got a job teaching at the Missouri School for the Deaf (MSD). They would remain in Fulton for the remainder of their lives. When their girls were grown, Ethel joined Grover as a teacher at MSD. 1945 Ethel was special while Grover was act. adv. prin., 1946 Ethel (intermed.), Grover (adv.), 1949 - ethel (prim) Grover (adv. libr.), 1958 - ethel (prim), grover (adv. libr.)

Grover passed away on January 5, 1971, at the age of 78. Ethel passed away on November 5, 1973, at the age of 81. Their final resting place is Hillcrest Cemetery in Fulton, Missouri.

Williams, Mary Edetha (December 27, 1888 - June 16, 1943)

Secretary (1911)

Mary Edetha Williams (she went by her middle name Edetha) was born on December 27, 1888, in Osage City, Kansas, to Warren Thomas Williams and Mary Elizabeth Short. Her father, Warren, was said to have been one of General George Armstrong Custer's "Old Faithful" soldiers and returned to his fort in Colorado while Custer went to his doom in the valley of the Little Bighorn. She was the youngest of four children, who included George, Roger, and Daisy. Her mom passed away when Edetha was 5. Almost two years later, her father remarried a woman named Alice Carlson and had four more children. It was stated that her cause of deafness was due to catarrh and that she had a gradual hearing loss. Her right ear had almost normal hearing, and she could speak, but not sign. Edetha graduated from the Kansas School for the Deaf (KSD) in 1905.

Shortly after graduating from KSD, she entered Gallaudet and graduated in 1909 with a Bachelor of Arts. At her graduation ceremony, she gave an oral presentation on "Early Kansas," which was translated into sign language by a faculty member. The summary of her presentation: "The difficulties of the settler's life were portrayed and the dangers of existence there. She said that the civil war finally began in western state. The wonderful progress of modern Kansas was also described." After graduation, she returned to KSD and became the assistant girls' supervisor.

Edetha attended the 1910 National Convention of the Deaf in Colorado Springs with KAD 1st Vice President Iona A. Tade, along with 18 other Kansas members. Iowa had the largest number (40 or so) of delegates, while Illinois was second with over thirty, and Kansas was third. In October, later that year, Edetha developed a severe cold that turned into pneumonia and had to be moved to a private home near the school grounds, where she could rest in a quiet atmosphere. She later had to go to her brother's house in Kansas City, Missouri, to finish her recuperation. Mrs. Luther Taylor became the substitute assistant girls' supervisor while Edetha was recovering.

She was elected secretary at the second Kansas Association for the Deaf (KAD) convention, held in Leavenworth from August 24-26, 1911. The same summer, she accepted an appointment to teach at the Kendall School for the Deaf in Washington, D.C. In 1916, The Evening Star (Washington, D.C.) reported that Edetha was unable to receive payment of $15 for five days' services in interpreting the testimony of a deaf prisoner named Robert Pitts before the Supreme Court of the District of Columbia. The reason given was that the Controller of the Treasury, W.W. Warwick, stated that Edetha was already earning $45 a month as a teacher from government funds and that the Attorney General had not consented to the interpreting fees.

Her teaching career at Kendall lasted from 1911 to 1917. On August 29, 1917, she married Robert Unsworth of Akron, Ohio, in Summit, Ohio. Robert was born in Baltimore, Maryland, the son of John U.L. Unsworth and Sadie Elizabeth Arnold. Robert was employed as the Boys' supervisor in the Domestic Department (1916-1917) at Kendall. After their marriage, they made their home in Akron and welcomed three daughters: Edetha, Dorothy, and Roberta. Robert was employed as a rubbermaker at Goodyear Company while Edetha was a homemaker and never returned to teaching. In 1929, Robert was appointed as interpreter of the "deaf and dumb language" to serve during the January term of the Summit County grand jury.

Robert passed away at the age of 50 on February 11, 1939. Edetha died at the age of 53 in her hometown, Osage City, on June 16, 1943, and was cremated. She left three daughters: Edetha Burge, Dorothy Menovich, and Roberta Lansberry; and two grandchildren.