Obituary: Gerald 'Jerry' Siegel, U pioneer in speech pathology

Gerald "Jerry" Siegel's life revolved around communication. For more than 30 years, he was a fixture of the University of Minnesota's speech pathology department, a pioneer in research about stuttering.

He played guitar and sang folk songs; Pete Seeger and Yiddish tunes were among his favorites. And after he retired in 1997, he wrote three self-published books, including one about growing up in Brooklyn, N.Y.

Siegel, of Edina, died unexpectedly on Nov. 17 at age 82.

The son of a postal worker, Siegel came to the Midwest in the mid-1950s to get his Ph.D. at the University of Iowa. At the time, the school was a hotbed for the study of speech pathology, said Siegel's oldest son, David.

Jerry Siegel arrived at the U in the 1960s when the school was trying to build a world-class program in communication — speech and hearing — disorders, David Siegel said. Jerry Siegel had long been interested in the field. "His father was a stutterer and a couple of other members of the family were stutterers as well."

In the 1960s, Siegel made his mark researching stuttering or "fluency disorder," co-authoring a textbook on the subject. In the 1970s, Siegel turned to "language development" in children, said Charles Speaks, an emeritus professor and friend of Siegel's who once chaired what's now called the Department of Speech-Language-Hearing Sciences at the U.

Essentially, Siegel studied how kids learn to give meaning to thoughts through language. That included examining disorders in children that delay speech development or prevent it altogether, Speaks said.

"He was very well known in the field, there's no question about it," said Karlind Moller, a friend of Siegel's and emeritus professor of the U's Speech-Language-Hearing Sciences Department. "The world of speech, language and hearing sciences has lost a huge intellect."

Siegel was a good teacher, too, not simply a lecturer, his colleagues said. He received a distinguished teaching award from the U in 2003.

David Siegel described his father as "kind of a Renaissance guy."

He sang and played guitar in front of children's and community groups. He wrote poetry and memoirs. And for many years, he was an avid handball player, a regular on the courts beneath the U's old Memorial Stadium.

Siegel is survived by his wife of 61 years, Eileen; sons David and Joshua; son-in-law Matthew Jacobs; and four grandchildren. He was preceded in death by his daughter, Karen Siegel-Jacobs. Services have been held.