Dave McCloskey has been announced on Facebook that he passed away on Feb 12. On February 25, his photo was shared on Rochester's Democrat and Chronicle Paper on the Obituaries & Memoriams on page 12-A. Dave has a long history all over the country. His last many years has inspired many in Rochester, NY.

He was known to me as Santa Claus and the Interpreter. When I was a college student, he was one interpreter who was a friend and shared many stories with me as an advocate.

One of my favorite memory of Dave was when I was taking an eight ( 8 ) am morning class. He would sleep and interpret. I would ask the partner if he was following the teacher's speech or something off. The partner interpreter will say he is doing great. But, she did not know how he does it.

I would confront Dave about this for years and he would always tell me he had that kind of amazing ability to translate in his head and not know how it came out. It was soo true...

Dave and I chatted that for years about that and many other advocacy issues. He was involved as president of an state deaf association. He was also an independent living advocate and he showed me many things the community needed. And, one of the last adventure with him was the ongoing work of founding the organization We the Deaf People (WTDP).

I will miss working with Dave he was a great friend, donator, supporter and ally of the Deaf community. Definitely will miss his great work and friendship. I will indeed already miss his humor and open mildness...

Below images were borrowed off some friend's Facebook profiles.