WESTERN LIONS EAR FOUNDATION "SO ALL MAY HEAR"

This is the story of the Western Lions Ear Foundation and the beginning of a new direction for the Lions of District 4-A3’s sponsored hearing charities.

In the summer of 1974, the Society of Television Engineers was conducting their monthly meeting in Hollywood, California. It was a Thursday night at the La Villa Taxco Restaurant. Lion Capp Loughboro, Deputy District Governor of 4-A3 was sitting next to a fellow Engineer, Jack C. Urban, PE, Urban Engineering Company, Burbank, California.

Jack Urban was an innovative Engineer with many accomplishments to this credit. He had invented, designed and developed many electronic technologies as well as the equipment to support and expedite those technologies. Jack’s latest invention was a device he called a Cochlear Implant. This device was a form of a sonar unit installed in the fluid of inner ear. This invention would, for the first time in history, permit people who had lost their ear drums, to hear. The use of this device did require that the auditory nerves were not impaired.

Jack said that he had completed a test on a patient where this had been done through surgery. The wires were coming out of the patient’s skull just behind his ear; very crude but effective. His second patient had never experienced hearing before and she was very excited upon hearing music for the first time.

The discussion continued after dinner, and before the meeting ended, Capp asked, "How are you funding all of this research?" Jack stated that they received some money from movie actors and actresses, wealthy donors and from the estates of deaf patients. He further stated that they really needed more financial help. The Surgeon who performed the implants was William House, MD of the Los Angeles Otologic Medical Group, Inc. His brother, Howard House, MD, was the President of the Los Angeles Foundation for Otology, which later became The Ear Research Institute, and in 1981, was named the House Ear Institute.

Capp asked Jack if the Lions Clubs could make this a Hearing project and assist in the funding of this great breakthrough? Jack set up a meeting with Dr. Howard House, Capp Loughboro, and Hugh Crawford, District Governor of District 4-A3 at the L.A. Otologic’s office. Dr. Howard House was most happy to find the Lions interested in this project. Hugh Crawford had brought along a copy of the Southern California Lions Eye Institute Constitution and By-laws, explaining to Dr. House exactly how we would operate. He was delighted with the proposal and the Western Lions Ear Foundation was formed. The first checks to the Foundations were given by the Ventura Breakfast Lions Club (Capp’s club) and the Oxnard Noontimer Lions Club (Hugh’s club).

The first donations were for research and development, while patient care was performed by Dr. Howard House at no charge. Later the money was used to develop the Audio/Visual Department. Today, the money from the dues and the interest from Life Memberships is used to perform patient care. In addition, the interest from a $100,000. estate gift is for research.