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Marty Ravellette

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Marty Ravellette
BornDecember 18, 1939
Goodland, Indiana, U.S.
DiedNovember 12, 2007(2007-11-12) (aged 67)
Eli Whitney, North Carolina, U.S.
NationalityAmerican
Other namesMartin Lawrence Ravellette
Known forArmless and heroism

Marty Ravellette (December 18, 1939 – November 12, 2007) was born in Goodland, Indiana without arms, attended Good Shepherd Rehabilitation Network in Allentown, Pennsylvania as an infant and then the family moved to Oceanside, California, where he was stopped for speeding in February 1963. The notoriety that resulted introduced him to his soon wife JoBeth Johnson and they moved to Klamath Falls, Oregon. Initially belonging to various denominations of Christianity, Ravellette and several of the family converted to the Baháʼí Faith between 1967 and 1970.

Later divorced, Ravellette moved to Teaneck, New Jersey and then Chapel Hill, North Carolina, where he rescued an elderly woman in a burning car and again won national recognition. His life is featured in a 2004 documentary, No Arms Needed: A Hero Among Us. Ravellette died in an auto accident in Eli Whitney, North Carolina three years later, in 2007.

Early life and education

Marty Ravellette was the fourth[1] child of the farm family of Ernest D. Ravellette and Laurene Ravellette (née Frohreich).[2][3] He was born without arms.[1] Faced with the challenge of this disability his family was convinced to place him at two months old at Good Shepherd Home, known today as Good Shepherd Rehabilitation Network, in Allentown, Pennsylvania. The main practice at Good Shepherd was mainstreaming, and they trained Ravellette to adapt the use of his legs, feet, arms, hand, and an early prosthetic arm he later stopped using.[4] - who was an inspiration to Ravellette.[1] Ravellette, while missing arms, favored his left foot like many do their left hand.[5] Ravellete was known to entertain people with his use of feet and body to do tricks.[6]

While there, Ravellette attended Allentown public schools, starting with Jefferson Elementary School and then South Mountain Junior High.[7] At age 11, Ravellette suffered burns from a fire accident. At age 16, Ravellette rejoined his family partly because he was a discipline problem but was initially barred from attending high school by an operating public school principle at the time that, as Ravellette understood it, physical handicaps were equated with mental handicaps.[1] Ravellette's mother sued the school and produced transcripts from his public school years while living at Good Shepherd in Allentown.

While attending an Allentown public high school, Ravellete's reputation was built by, despite lacking arms, his rebellious and confrontational attitude. He "didn't back down", as the 2003 documentary on him cited[1] when fellow students picked on him. However, he said, "For the first time, I felt like I was a cripple.".[7] He credited his rebelliousness with not being afraid of work, an attribute he said he developed from working on a farm, where his family did not have running water. At one point, it was Ravellette's job to fill water troughs from a hand pump.[1] For the high school prom Ravellette recalled he was denied a date saying "Marty, when I want to get married I want to marry a man, not half a one."[8]

After graduating circa 1957, the family moved to Oceanside, California and Ravellette ran away from home.[9] In San Diego, Ravellette began to work in a variety of jobs.[1] While he was unemployed in 1962, he drove from Los Angeles to his home on San Diego, where he was pulled over in a line of cars for speeding.[10] After taking his driver's license, the officer noticed that he was handed the license by Ravellette's foot. After proving he had a valid driver's license, he let Ravellette go with a citation. The incident was covered nationally by Associated Press and was read by JoBeth Johnson in Florida, who struck up a long-distance relationship with Ravellette that grew to a marriage after Ravellette moved to Klamath Falls, Oregon in 1963.[11] They lived there a number of years; he, a member of the Church of Christ and she a Baptist.[12] Together they had a daughter, Nancy (who was born with arms.) and a son who died as a child in a car accident.[13]

In 1967,[2] after attending community college, Ravellette moved to San Diego, where he lived in a boarding house,[1] and performed parlor tricks. There, he met Ray Estes, who pointed out he was being used for amusement by those who were not his friends. In the same period, Estes noticed he was much more agile with his feet and remarked, "If God has seen fit to put you on earth without arms, it's up to the rest of us to accept you - not you to accept us."[1] which Ravellette took as a turning point in his life. Estes and Ravellette would be long time friends. Estes had joined the Baháʼí Faith in 1966[14] and Ravellette also converted to the religion in 1967.[2] Soon his mother[15] and wife[16] were visible serving in the religion and the Ravellettes had a second child May 21, 1970, after they moved to Eugene, Oregon. Marcus Husayn Ravellette - "Husayn" is a name recognized in Baháʼí circles as the birth-name of the founder, Baháʼu'lláh. However, on June 11, 1975, Marcus was killed in an automobile accident[17] and buried as a Baháʼí.[1] Marty and JoBeth divorced some time afterwards. Ravellete moved to Teaneck, New Jersey, where he became a grounds keeper at the Baháʼí property there. It was near there in Paramus, New Jersey that he met the woman who would be his next wife - Maree.[1]

North Carolina incidents

In 1991,[2] Ravellette moved to Chapel Hill, North Carolina, where he won North Carolina's Disabled Citizen of the Year in 1994[18] while running a landscaping business, Hands on Landscaping. He again gained national fame when he rescued an elderly lady from a burning vehicle.[19] He appeared on several national television shows, including Discovery Channel,[1] which won an Award of Merit by Carolina Silver Reels[20] and other shows though initially he had sought no publicity.[1] Following this he had the opportunity to go back to Good Shepherd in Allentown, Pennsylvania for a reunion[21] and began a period of reconnecting with his family while at the same time he met his future wife.[22] He also began to speak publicly, including as a frequent guest at a journalism class of Chuck Stone[1] at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill,[23] and elsewhere,[9] using stories of his life and physical challenges to underpin larger lessons on the benefits of diversity, justice, equality, and the unity of humankind. Inspired by his beliefs as a long-time member of the Baháʼí Faith, he often quoted one of his favorite lines from Baháʼí literature, "Noble have I created thee; why hast thou abased thyself" and observed that he was in a special position to serve humanity because of his differences, saying "Why was I born? Why was I born with no arms? Now serve mankind with no arms and not yourself!"[1] he met Tony Melendez, a performer who similarly armless.[1][24]

On November 12, 2007, Ravellette was in a car accident in southern Alamance County, North Carolina at Highway 87, where Eli Whitney, North Carolina is located. He failed to yield to an oncoming lumber truck and was ejected from the vehicle. He was not wearing a seatbelt because of his disability and died later that day at UNC Hospital[25] just a few days after another Baháʼí was similarly killed in an accident at the same intersection.[26] He is buried at Maplewood Cemetery, Durham, North Carolina.[2]

Awards and special appearances

  • In 2004, his life was featured in a documentary film, No Arms Needed: A Hero Among Us, produced and directed by Bill Hayes and written by Kirk Streb,[29] and shown on the Discovery Channel on May 8, 2004[5] and elsewhere.[24]

Further reading

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q Marty Ravellette; produced & directed by Bill Hayes, written by Kirk Streb (2003). No Arms Needed: A Hero Among Us (video documentary). Figure 8 Films.
  2. ^ a b c d e "Obituary – Marty Ravellette". The Carrboro Citizen. November 14, 2007.
  3. ^ Michael Gagnon (November 14, 2007). "Marty Ravellette, 1939-2007". The Independent Weekly.
  4. ^ Ray R. Meyers (2011). John Robinson (ed.). "Ray R. Meyers - World's famous armless musician - His life story as told in words and pictures". Sideshow World. Archived from the original on May 1, 2011. Retrieved March 31, 2015.
  5. ^ a b "our heroes". triangletravels.com. 2015. Retrieved April 2, 2015.
  6. ^ "Church news; The women's missionary society…". The Evening Sun. Hanover, Pennsylvania. 27 Nov 1951. p. 7. Retrieved April 1, 2015.
  7. ^ a b c d e f Bob Wittman (November 15, 1998). "Bravery In Action When Ability And Courage Were Needed To Rescue A Woman Trapped In A Burning Car, Marty Ravellette Had Both". The Morning Call. Allentown, Pennsylvania. Retrieved March 31, 2015.
  8. ^ a b Marty Ravellette, reporter Bob Dotson. Fork in the Road Films (television). NBC Today Show.
  9. ^ a b Meredith Young (October 29, 1998). "The Strength to Overcome". The Chronicle. Retrieved April 2, 2015.
  10. ^ * "Driver 'Hands' officer license by foot-drives without arms". Independent Press-Telegram. Long Beach, California. 10 Feb 1963. p. 9. Retrieved March 31, 2015.
    • "Driving manner odd". The Oregon Statesman. Salem, Oregon. 11 Feb 1963. p. 8. Retrieved March 31, 2015.
  11. ^ "Armless pair to get married". The Oregon Statesman. Salem, Oregon. 11 Jul 1963. p. 19. Retrieved March 31, 2015.
  12. ^ "Faith provides answer for newly married pair". Herald and News. Klamath Falls, Oregon. 4 Aug 1963. p. 6. Retrieved March 31, 2015.
  13. ^ "Daughter born armless couple". Corsicana Daily Sun. Corsicana, Texas. 10 Feb 1965. p. 5. Retrieved March 31, 2015.
  14. ^ Ray Estes (January 27, 2006). A Baháʼí Perspective; (first of series of episodes by Estes) (radio).
  15. ^ "Nine of the thirty-nine newly formed assemblies in the United States". Baháʼí News. July 1969. p. 14. Retrieved March 31, 2015.
  16. ^ "Baháʼí Directory changes" (PDF). National Baháʼí Review. April 1970. p. 7. Retrieved March 31, 2015.
  17. ^ "Truck accident fatal to boy, 5". Eugene Register-Guard. Eugene, Oregon. Jun 11, 1975. p. B1. Retrieved March 31, 2015.
  18. ^ a b "Man born without arms is honored". The Index-Journal. Greenwood, South Carolina. 26 May 1994. p. 2. Retrieved March 31, 2015.
  19. ^ * "Man born without arms rescues elderly woman from burning van". The Paris News. Paris, Texas. 15 Oct 1998. p. 3. Retrieved March 31, 2015.
  20. ^ "And The Winners Are..." www.mca-i.org. 2004. Archived from the original on February 8, 2009. Retrieved March 31, 2015.
  21. ^ a b John E. Usalis (2 Jul 1999). "Golfer honored for promoting awarenss of disabilities". Standard-Speaker. Hazleton, Pennsylvania. p. 15. Retrieved March 31, 2015.
  22. ^ Marty Ravellette; Reporter: Scott Mason, Photographer: Robert Meikle (Sep 11, 2007). No arms needed for Marty Ravellette (Television). Chapel Hill, North Carolina: WRAL News.
  23. ^ Jock Lauterer (November 15, 2007). "Marty Ravellette was a teacher too". The Carrboro Commons. Archived from the original on March 1, 2013. Retrieved March 31, 2015.
  24. ^ a b Marty Ravellette (August 23, 2011). ViqNetWork presents Marty Ravellette: No arms needed! (Television). Volunteer and Information Quinte.
  25. ^ "Chapel Hill Man Born Without Arms Dies in Car Accident". WRAL News. Chapel Hill, North Carolina. November 12, 2007. Retrieved March 31, 2015.
  26. ^ "Durham, N.C. — Lawrence C. "Larry" Akeley of Durham, died on Friday, Nov. 9, 2007". seacoastonline.com. Portsmouth, New Hampshire. 2007. Archived from the original on September 24, 2015. Retrieved March 31, 2015.
  27. ^ "Robert P. Connelly Medal for Heroism Award Winners". Kiwanis. 2015. Retrieved April 2, 2015.
  28. ^ Marty Ravellette; by Jackie Helvey (1999). Fête del la Musique (video). Carrboro, North Carolina: vimeo.com.
  29. ^ "Synopsis". Figure 8 Films. 2015. Archived from the original on April 1, 2015. Retrieved March 31, 2015.
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