Remembering Josh Gendel

Laurie Hanin, CHC Executive Director

Dear CHC Friends,

Joshua Gendel, 2016

With much sadness, we say goodbye to our dear friend and longstanding colleague Joshua Gendel, who passed away just a short time ago.

Josh came to CHC (then known as the League) in 1972 with an engineering degree from City College. His incredible understanding of assistive technology made him ideally suited to his role as Director of Technical Services, a position he would hold for 39 years.

His responsibilities ranged from hearing aid troubleshooting and repairs to assistive devices counseling and the development of ingenious custom tech solutions. His mastery of his craft was legendary, which is why audiologists everywhere would send their clients to him.

Years ago, it was difficult to fit earmolds for people with severe and profound hearing losses without causing feedback. Fortunately, with digital hearing aids, that’s no longer an issue. But back then, Josh was really a master when it came to hard-to-fit earmolds, and we had a long list of clients from all over who would only see him.

Josh Gendel, in 1973, performing an electro-acoustical analysis of a hearing aid.

Clients were also very fond of Josh. He was patient and never made anyone feel rushed or shortchanged. He had a gift for explaining technical information in nontechnical ways. And he was resourceful at coming up with novel or out-of-the-box solutions when standard devices weren’t enough.

I very much admire Josh’s education and advocacy efforts in the area of communication access. Long before we had the Americans with Disabilities Act, Josh was active in the community generating awareness for the needs of people with hearing loss and the critical role of assistive technology. In 2009, Josh was part of the team that created CHC’s Devices Room and, for years, led weekly demonstrations for the public.

Today we say goodbye to our beloved colleague, Josh Gendel, but we will always remember and honor his friendship, incredible career and the countless lives he touched.

Sincerely,

Laurie Hanin, PhD, CCC-A Executive Director

P.S. Email us at buzz@chchearing.org to share your memory of Josh Gendel.