Stephen Patrick Quigley, (91), died April 30^th at home with hospice care, surrounded by his family.

 He was born December 3^rd 1927 in Belfast, Northern Ireland. He immigrated to the United States in 1948. He met his wife of 66 years, Ruth Quigley, in Denver while pursuing his undergraduate degrees in psychology and teaching. They married in 1953, The couple then moved to Urbana-Champaign, Illinois for his doctoral degree in linguistics at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign.

 After finishing at UIUC he took a position as an Assistant Professor of Psychology at Gallaudet University. He then worked for the Federal Department of Education in Washington D.C, before accepting a position as a Professor in the Institute for Research on Exceptional Children at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, where he worked until his retirement in 1985. The thread running through his years of research was the improvement of the lives and education of deaf and hard-of-hearing people.

 The culmination of his academic work was the publication of Reading Milestones, a reading series designed to help deaf children acquire English literacy. It is the largest selling reading series for deaf learners

 Stephen and Ruth moved to Tucson after his retirement, where Stephen was able to fully indulge his love of nature. He became an avid hiker who hiked from the North Rim to the South Rim of the Grand Canyon in a single day. His passion for education remained, reflected in his unwavering emotional and financial support of the education of his four grandchildren.

 Stephen and Ruth moved to Savannah, GA in 2001 to be closer to family. Without mountains to hike, he became instead an enthusiastic kayaker, exploring the rivers and marshes of coastal Georgia.

 Surviving are his wife of 66 years, Ruth Quigley; his son and daughter-in-law Philip and Suzy Quigley of Sugar Land, TX; his daughter Stephanie Crouch neé Quigley of Savannah, GA; and his four grandchildren: Don and wife Ellen Quigley of Houston, TX; David and wife Kaitlin Quigley of Broomfield, CO; Caroline Crouch of Santa Barbara, CA; and Stephen Crouch of Savannah, GA.

 A private family service is planned at a later date.