Several years ago, I was contacted by a former resident of Livingston, Tom Parrigan, Jr., (many will remember as Tommy Parrigan) who has made his home for many years in St. Augustine, Florida. He was asking if I might be interested in doing a story about not only his involvement with the Florida School for the Deaf and the Blind, but additional Livingston Academy graduates who have also been employed by this school. The following information was provided by Tommy with the exception of the history of the school which I have taken from Wikipedia as follows:

In 1882, Thomas Hines Coleman, a young deaf man, was preparing to graduate from Gallaudet University in Washington, DC, the only college for the deaf in the world at that time. He had graduated from the South Carolina School for the Deaf and the Blind and knew he wanted to make education for children his life’s work. Florida was one of the few states that had not made provision for the education of children who were deaf/hard of hearing or who had visual impairments. Coleman wrote Governor William D. Bloxham and he replied favorably toward the establishment of such a school. As their correspondence continued, the sum of $20,000.00 was reached as a minimum appropriation to start the school. In 1883, Florida’s legislature established an institution for the blind and deaf children for two years at $20,000.00. They requested bids from towns in Florida for the location for the school. St. Augustine offered the best bid with $1,000 cash and 5 acres of land, the land donated by Captain Edward E. Vaill, a pioneer of the city. The first entering class was 62 student in 1892. Today the school is now the largest of its type in the United States.

Tom Parrigan, Jr. has this to say about his work and fellow Livington Academy graduates: “In 1968, I moved to St. Augustine, FL to work at the Florida School for the Deaf and the Blind. In 1969, as the Director of the Residential Program at the school, I hired Livingston Academy graduate David Story to work in the dormitories and the recreational program. David returned to Livingston after one year. He is married to Judy Ledbetter and the live in the Monroe area.

“In the early 1970s, Martha Bernard Rider came to work at the school after graduating from the University of Florida. After more than a year she returned to Tennessee to work on her master’s degree at MTSU. She later got her PhD from the University of Tennessee and then worked for the CDC in Hawaii for a few years before moving to the Atlanta office. She retired from the CDC and now lives in Palm Coast, FL.

“Then in 1977, Rick Roberts, my nephew and the son of my sister, Sandra Parrigan Roberts, went to work in the deaf department dormitories. After a few years, Rick became a residential supervisor, and over a period of time, those he hired to work with him in the deaf residential program included Rick Sidwell, Billy Cole, Doug Hunter, and Dee Moore Wells. At the same time, Bill German had moved to ST. Augustine from the West Virginia School for the Deaf and the Blind. Including myself and my nephew, Rick, that made 7 LA graduates all working there at the same time.

“There were a total of 4 LA graduates that worked one or two years, David Story, Billy Cole, Doug Hunter and Dee Moore. Rick Roberts, Rick Sidwell, Bill German and Tom Parrigin worked for many years each contributing in many ways. Billy Cole moved back to Livingston after 1 year and started working with the US Postal Service. He is currently the Post Master at Hilham. Rick Sidwell worked for 18 years (1981-1999) and also coached the deaf football team as an assistant in 1983-1985 and the head coach for 4 years 1994-1998. He, his wife and children moved to Atlanta area in 1999 and he worked for the local school system and coached football before going to work for O’Rileys Auto parts stores as a manager of several stores. He currently works for them in the North Atlanta area. Bill German and his wife Phyllis came to the Florida School after working several years at the West Virginia School for the Deaf and the Blind. German worked as a houseparent and then as a recreational director in the blind department. He started working at the school in 1989 and both he and his wife retired in 2002. In addition German was a local minister in one of the smaller churches in the area. He and Phyllis are both retired and live in the St. Augustine area.

“I retired after 33 years as an administrator, teacher and coach. After serving 11 years as the Director of Student Life, I made the decision to return to the classroom as the Industrial Arts (shop) teacher in the blind department while also doing my favorite, that of coaching the blind students in their athletic endeavors. I coached wrestling and track while at the Tenn. School for the Blind. The United States Association of Blind Athletes was organized in 1976 and I became involved in 1977. I began training athletes for the national championships soon thereafter. I started a swimming team at FSDB and before long set two world records for the blind in the swimming relays.

“In track and field, I had 4 members of the Florida team make the USA team for the International Blind Sports Association 1990 World Youth Championships in St. Etienne, France. One of my athletes ran in the opening event the 1500 meter run and set a world record for blind youth. In the mid 1980s, the game of Goalball was becoming popular in the US among blind schools as well as the United States Association of Blind Athletes. Some of my Florida students persuaded me to start a team. Four years later, my team was in the final four with a young team of 15-16 year olds playing against teams composed of adults. In 1992, I was asked by the Olympic Committee to be the USA Paralympic Head coach for the Paralympic Games in Barcelona, Spain. I served in this position for 18 years winning 2 bronze medals and being ranked #1 in the world in 2007. In 1995, I was asked to host the USABA National High School Goalball Tournament at the Florida school. I did and it was such a success that the coaches from all over the USA requested that it return for the next year. This year makes the 20th year that the national championship has been conducted at FSDB. I retired from FSDB in 2001 but continued to volunteer until 2012. In 2013, I was elected to the United States Association Blind Athletes Hall of Fame. In addition to being the USA coach, I served on the Board of Directors of USABA from 1992 until 2012.

“Rick Roberts has worked at the school since 1977 when he came down to spend a year before returning to Tenn. Tech. As the old saying goes “He got sand in his shoes and could not get it out”. That was almost 38 years ago. He was a Residential Supervisor for several years prior to moving into the classroom when his son came to live with him. Not only did Rick follow in his Uncle Tom’s footsteps moving to Florida, but he followed me into coaching as well. He was an assistant on the football team with Rick Sidwell. In addition he was an assistant for the basketball team for several years. When the head coach retired, Rick was elevated to Head Coach. He has served in this capacity for 7 years. His teams of the last 3 years have won the biggest tournament for deaf schools, the Mason Dixon Tournament. This tournament has only been won three times straight twice before. He just missed winning the 4th straight tournament in February when his team lost at the buzzer in the finals. He retired from coaching after completing the season in 2015.”

According to figures provided by Tom Parrigan, Jr., all combined, he and the other graduates of Livingston Academy have a total of 107-1/2 years in the teaching profession with the Florida School for the Deaf and Blind.