A Film About Rodney Wilson Walker's Life Produced by Eye-Sign Media LLC, 2006

Bobby Giles, a 1983 graduate of the Utah School for the Deaf, and his team at Eye-Sign Media LLC, which includes Julio Diaz Jr. and Jim Harper, produced a film in 2006 about Rodney Wilson Walker, a prominent leader of the Deaf community in Utah. The same year, Rodney Wilson Walker also published a book titled "My Life Story."

Rodney Wilson Walker was born on February 23, 1914. He enrolled at the Utah School for the Deaf at the age of six and graduated in 1933. At Gallaudet, Rodney was a member of the Kappa Gamma Fraternity, the football, basketball, and track teams, the Kappa Gamma Fraternity Dance, and the Football Homecoming Dance. He graduated from Gallaudet College in 1939. 

After graduating from Gallaudet College, Rodney returned to Utah and became involved in the Utah Deaf community. He was a dependable spiritual, social, and sports leader. He was the president of the Utah Association of the Deaf, a delegate to the National Association of the Deaf, president of the Utah Athletic Club of the Deaf, president of the Northwest Athletic Association of the Deaf, and national chairman of the American Athletic Association of the Deaf basketball tournament in Salt Lake City. He was also a member of the National Fraternal Society of the Deaf Salt Lake City Division No. 56, the United Utah Organizations of the Deaf, and the Gallaudet University Alumni Association's Beehive Chapter.

On May 22, 1981, Norma Matheson, Utah Governor Scott Matheson's wife, presented Rodney with the Golden Key Award for his outstanding achievement. The award was presented on behalf of the Governor's Committee on Handicapped Employment. In 1990, he began teaching an American Sign Language class at Salt Lake Community College and received the Teaching Excellence Award in 1992. His award was recognized by the UAD Hall of Fame. Rodney was one of five adjunct instructors chosen out of 500 to receive the award. He also earned the Golden Hand Award for community service at the 1993 Utah Association for the Deaf Conference.

Rodney was a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and served as bishop of the Salt Lake Valley Ward in Salt Lake City, Utah. In 1998, at the age of 84, he became the first Deaf temple sealer. He was a descendant of Utah pioneers. Rodney lived a long and prosperous life, passing away at the age of 93 in 2007.

Rodney's childhood photographs were shown in a video honoring him. Sandra Link, Bobby Giles' assistant, interviewed him. During a ceremony, C. Roy Cochran and Ronald C. Burdett shared stories about Rodney's accomplishments. Rodney lived a long and prosperous life, passing away at the age of 93 on August 2, 2007. He was a man to admire and love, achieving much without complaint and continually working, giving, and serving.

For more information about Utah Deaf History, you can visit the following website: www.utahdeafhistory.com

Jodi Becker Kinner