March 14, 2025 | Erin Bluvas, bluvase@sc.edu

Allen (Al) Montgomery’s lifelong relationship with the field of communication sciences and disorders (COMD) began when he was just a child. His struggle with stuttering meant it sometimes took him 30 seconds or more to say a word.

That all changed after he graduated from high school and attended an eight-week summer program for stuttering at Miami University of Ohio, where he would begin his undergraduate degree that fall. Al’s speech became fluent, and the mathematics major added a minor in speech pathology to his studies.

Inspired by his new calling, master’s (speech pathology; Western Michigan University) and doctoral (speech science; Purdue University) quickly followed. Al was especially thrilled to work directly with the “father of stuttering,” Charles Van Riper, during his master’s program, and even more elated to meet his future wife, Marcia, while at Purdue.

Marcia was earning a master’s in speech pathology after being inspired by a public speaking instructor at her undergraduate alma mater who shared his own story of coping with stuttering. The couple bonded over their love of the field, their ability to use sign language, and their passion for helping patients regain their capacity for communication. After marrying, they took a one-year trip to Australia where they collaborated with the Lincoln Institute, which trained speech therapists.

Returning to the U.S. in 1975, they spent the next decade in the Washington D.C. area, where Al conducted research on lip reading and fluency at the Walter Reed Army Medical Center, and Marcia taught students who were deaf and hard of hearing at the high school at Gallaudet University.

The tuition-free, residential school was the world’s first and only university designed specifically for students who are deaf. The Montgomerys became friends with Gallaudet psychology professor King Jordan, who would later lead the school as its first deaf president, and his wife, Linda. The four stayed close, often traveling the world together.

In 1988, the Montgomerys moved to South Carolina to be closer to family, and they immediately contacted USC’s Arnold School of Public Health about joining the COMD department. Until retiring in 2011, Marcia supervised graduate students, taught a popular sign language course and worked in the USC Speech and Hearing Research Center supervising students who were working with hearing-impaired clients.

Early on, Al brought in two training grants from the United States Department of Education, which started the master’s specialty track for habilitation of deaf/hearing-impaired children. He remained a strong supporter of grant-seeking and was the first to encourage and congratulate faculty and students on their efforts to secure funding to advance the field.

Always the philanthropist, Al returned the equivalent of his annual salary back to the department to support doctoral students. He was such a supporter of Ph.D. students, that he served as the coordinator for the department’s doctoral program for many years and mentored more than a dozen doctoral students up until spring, 2023.

In 1989, he received the Fellowship of the Association Award from the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association, and in 2018, he was inducted into the Outstanding Alumni Academy of Western Michigan University’s College of Health and Human Sciences. That same year, Al and Marcia donated $1.8 million to the COMD department.

Unprecedented in its generosity, this gift made it possible for the COMD department and the USC Speech and Hearing Center to come together in the same building on campus for the first time. This also meant that the department no longer needed to rent space, which was becoming more costly. After renovations were complete, faculty, staff and students moved into the Close-Hipp building on campus, along with the USC Speech and Hearing Research Center, which was renamed the Montgomery Speech-Language Hearing Clinic.

“We were both raised by educated and charitable people. Our parents set examples for us in terms of helping other people, and they were especially dedicated to higher education,” Al said at the time. “We are so pleased to support this high-quality department and its unique programs. Everyone likes and respects one another, and it’s a really great environment.”

During his nearly four decades at USC, Al developed many special friendships. One was with Harris Pastides, who served as Dean of the Arnold School before becoming Vice President for Research and Health Sciences and eventually President of the university. Pastides and his wife, Patricia, became great friends with the Montgomerys as well as traveling companions.

Kenn Apel, who served as chair for the COMD department from 2012 until his retirement in 2020, and his wife, Lynda, were also close friends with the Montgomerys. Their regular get togethers included lessons in mahjong and later frequent check-ins when the Apels moved to the west coast.

“Al was admired by all in the department,” Apel says. “Their esteem for him went beyond the incredible gift he and Marcia gave to COMD. Truly, on a daily basis, if anyone needed anything, Al would drop what he was doing and find out how he could help that person. He thrived on helping others and that gave him great joy.”

Jean Neils-Strunjas began her appointment as chair of COMD in 2020.

“I will remember Al for his resilience which emanated from his love for the department, his care for Marcia, his humor and joy,” she says. “I had the pleasure of going on vacation and a business trip with Al and Marcia in 2022 to Beaufort, SC. Al and Marcia were booked in an upstairs room, and I was booked in a downstairs room. I offered to switch rooms because of the steep stairs up to the second-floor room. Al politely declined, explaining that he and Marica wanted to have cocktails on the porch of the upper floor room.”

In addition to their devotion to the COMD field and their friendships, the Montgomerys were enthusiasts of art and wine. The consummate connoisseur, Al claimed he could take a sip of red wine and tell you everything about the bottle – down to which side of the hill the grapes grew. Their wine collecting brought the Montgomerys to France many times, often with friends.

As art lovers, the Montgomerys collected numerous pieces over the years, including many from Al’s favorite artist, Joan Miró. Their collection will eventually be donated to the Columbia Art Museum.

A steady presence in the COMD department for many years, Al is also remembered for his storytelling. Starting with his roots (his grandfather was a minister who could read ancient Hebrew and Greek; his parents studied chemistry and bacteriology), his adventures running more than 100 marathons and through to present day, he always had inspiring and entertaining tales to share.

Al Montgomery was an inspiration and a comfort to all who knew him. The department and other close colleagues and friends will share their stories of Al, who passed away in February at the age of 86. In honor of Al Montgomery’s many contributions to the department, college, and university, Neils-Strunjas is hosting a Celebration of Life lunch on April 11, 2025 from 12 Noon to 2:00 PM in the Close-Hipp Building. All are invited to share memories and stories. Please contact Lara McEachern mcconnal@mailbox.sc.edu if you would like to attend.