Annie Glenn, Ohio's most beloved
John Glenn’s wife became a role model in her own right as an early advocate for disability rights.
The Editorial Board
Thu, 21 May 2020 04:00:00 GMT
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The late John Glenn — senator, astronaut, fighter pilot — could not have achieved all the spectacular things he did without his beloved wife, Annie, who died at 100 in a Minnesota nursing home early Tuesday.
But John Glenn was not the only heroic one in the marriage.
Along with being the lifelong love and supporting partner to a legend, Annie Glenn became a role model and early advocate for disability rights after struggling with severe stuttering.
The former Anna Margaret Castor met her future husband in a playpen at the card-club get-togethers that both their parents attended in New Concord in eastern Ohio.
Love blossomed between the two in junior high school and they both went to Muskingum College. She gave up early dreams of teaching because of her disability, instead studying music because she could sing without stuttering.
They became engaged as John Glenn was preparing to leave for service in World War II. When he returned from the war, Annie Glenn was his constant companion and support as Mr. Glenn found success in NASA and in politics.
The astronaut and senator was fiercely protective of his wife, declining invitations to meet with admirers, including even Lyndon Johnson, to spare her uncomfortable situations in which she might have to speak.
Even so, the prominent political friends the couple did let in to their personal lives unfailingly called Mrs. Glenn one of the kindest, most generous, and warm-hearted people they’d ever encountered in public life.
Gov. Mike DeWine called her the most beloved Ohioan.
Eventually, when she was in her 50s, the Glenns found a fluency-shaping program at what was then called Hollins College in Virginia. After three weeks of intensive therapy, Annie Glenn called her husband and spoke to him without stuttering for the first time. Mr. Glenn cried at the sound of it.
She went on to become a powerful advocate for those with speech impediments, using the spotlight she’d tried so long to avoid to become a champion for people like herself. Mrs. Glenn even went on to teach at the Ohio State University. She said the culmination of a lifelong dream — one she’d deferred because of her disability — brought her to tears the first time she stood in front of a classroom.
Hers is a legacy of enduring love and an overcoming spirit. Ohio and the world are better thanks to her contributions.