{{Short description|New Zealand deaf community advocate}} {{Use dmy dates|date=November 2024}} {{Use New Zealand English|date=November 2024}} {{Infobox person | name = Hilary McCormack | honorific_suffix = {{post-nominals|country=NZL|CNZM|size=100%}} | native_name = | native_name_lang = | image = {{#statements:P18}} | image_size = | alt = | caption = {{#statements:P2096}} | birth_date = {{#statements:P569}} | birth_place = {{#statements:P19}} | death_date = {{#statements:P570}} | death_place = {{#statements:P20}} | resting_place = {{#statements:P119}} | resting_place_coordinates = <!-- {{Coord|LAT|LONG|type:landmark|display=inline,title}} --> | other_names = | citizenship = | nationality = | fields = | employer = {{#statements:P108}} | patrons = | alma_mater = {{#statements:P69}} | notable_students = | known_for = | author_abbrev_bot = | author_abbrev_zoo = | influences = | influenced = | awards = {{#statements:P166}} | signature = <!--(filename only)--> | signature_alt = | website = <!-- {{URL|www.example.com}} --> | footnotes = | spouse = | children = }} '''Hilary Strang McCormack''' {{post-nominals|country=NZL|CNZM}} (31 December 1934 – 12 December 2022)<ref>{{Cite web |title=Hilary MCCORMACK Obituary (1934–2023) – Christchurch, Canterbury – The Press |url=https://deaths.press.co.nz/nz/obituaries/the-press-nz/name/hilary-mccormack-obituary?n=hilary-mccormack&pid=203705530 |access-date=2024-11-27 |website=Legacy.com}}</ref> was a New Zealand advocate for the Deaf community. She was president and patron of the New Zealand Association of the Deaf, and a strong supporter of New Zealand Sign Language. In 1998 McCormack was appointed a Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit for services to the deaf.
==Early life and education==
McCormack had meningitis when she was seven, and became profoundly deaf "almost overnight" as a result.<ref name=":1">{{Cite web |title='Inside Out' interviews Hilary McCormack: Deaf education, advocacy and technology |url=https://signdna.org/video/inside-out-interviews-hilary-mccormack-deaf-education-advocacy-and-technology/ |access-date=2024-11-27 |website=SignDNA – Deaf National Archive New Zealand |language=en-NZ}}</ref> McCormack attended the Sumner School for the Deaf (later Van Asch College), for a year, where she was a weekly boarder and learned to lip read.<ref name=":1" /> At that time sign language was not used or taught at the school, so McCormack relied on lipreading and interpreters throughout her life.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |title=Remembering Hilary McCormack |url=https://www.kotakureo.school.nz/parents-and-whanau/news-and-events/hilary-mccormacks-passing |access-date=2024-11-27 |website=Ko Taku Reo |language=en}}</ref><ref name=":1" />
== Work == Despite not using sign language, McCormack was a strong supporter of New Zealand Sign Language.<ref name=":1" /> She led the establishment of the NZSL Dictionary.<ref name=":0" /> McCormack also advocated for government funding for a NZ Relay Service, providing relay services for deaf people and people with other communication difficulties.<ref name=":0" />
McCormack was President and Patron of the New Zealand Association of the Deaf.<ref name=":0" /> In 1987 she was elected to the executive of the Disabled Person's Assembly, which had been formed in 1983.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Home – Disabled Persons Assembly NZ – DPA |url=https://www.dpa.org.nz/ |access-date=2024-11-27 |website=www.dpa.org.nz}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last=Hilary |first=McCormack |date=1987 |title=Network Communications |url=https://signdna.org/publication/nfd-journal-april-1987/ |journal=NFD Journal |volume=1 |issue=1 |pages=11}}</ref>
McCormack served on the Board of Trustees for Van Asch College and from 1992 to 1993 served as Chair.<ref name=":0" />
==Honours and awards== In the 1998 New Year Honours, McCormack was appointed a Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit for services to the deaf.<ref>{{Cite web |date=1997-12-31 |title=New Year Honours List 1998 {{!}} Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet (DPMC) |url=https://www.dpmc.govt.nz/publications/new-year-honours-list-1998 |access-date=2024-11-27 |website=www.dpmc.govt.nz |language=en}}</ref>
In 2020 McCormack was awarded the New Zealand Sign Language Awards' Supreme Long-standing Service Award.<ref>{{Cite web |title=In memoriam – Hilary McCormack |url=https://www.deaf.org.nz/newsletter/in-memoriam-hilary-mccormack/ |access-date=2024-11-27 |website=Deaf Aotearoa |language=en-NZ}}</ref>
McCormack was awarded life membership of the Canterbury Deaf Society.<ref name=":0" />
==References== {{reflist}}
==External links== * ''[https://vimeo.com/780603828/9d82c8e3d0 Remembering Hilary McCormack 1934–2022]'', (in New Zealand Sign Language), via Vimeo {{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:McCormack, Hilary}} Category:1934 births Category:2022 deaths Category:Companions of the New Zealand Order of Merit Category:New Zealand deaf people