Translator of COVID updates for deaf dies in pandemic
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January 25, 2021 2.05pm
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PATTY SAKAL: 1958 - 2021
Patty Sakal, an American Sign Language interpreter who translated updates about the coronavirus for deaf Hawaiians, died on Friday of complications related to COVID-19. She was 62.
Sakal, who lived in Honolulu, died at Alvarado Hospital Medical Centre in San Diego, where she had gone last month to visit one of her daughters, according to Sakal’s sister, Lorna Mouton Riff.
Sakal, who worked as an ASL interpreter for nearly four decades in a variety of settings, had become a mainstay in coronavirus press briefings in Hawaii, working with both the former mayor of Honolulu, Kirk Caldwell, and Governor David Ige to interpret news for the deaf community.
Patty Sakal, A.S.L. Interpreter for Virus Updates, Dies of Covid at 62
Ms. Sakal had worked as an interpreter in Hawaii for nearly 40 years.
Patty Sakal, an American Sign Language interpreter who translated updates about the coronavirus for deaf Hawaiians.Credit.via Sakal family
Published Jan. 20, 2021Updated Feb. 3, 2021
This obituary is part of a series about people who have died in the coronavirus pandemic. Read about others
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Patty Sakal, an American Sign Language interpreter who translated updates about the coronavirus for deaf Hawaiians, died of complications related to Covid-19 on Jan. 15. She was 62.
Ms. Sakal, who lived in Honolulu, died at Alvarado Hospital Medical Center in San Diego. She had gone to San Diego last month to visit one of her daughters, according to her sister, Lorna Mouton Riff.