Miki Gudermuth: Her mission was highlighting accessibility challenges

"The squeaky wheel gets the grease."

Maryann "Miki" Gudermuth, 74, passed away Sept. 6, 2023. Her legacy of advocacy for those with disabilities will live on.

Miki's story starts long ago when she was a baby, 9 months old. Diagnosed with polio, she spent most of her childhood years in a Shriners hospital, undergoing various surgeries on her hips, legs and feet. Instead of retreating into herself, lamenting her plight, Miki would draw energy from her personal challenges. Later, she would go on to lobby for those with disabilities in ways large and small, public and private.

Miki became known as someone who saw a problem and did what she could to get it fixed. If a business wasn't accessible because it lacked a wheelchair ramp, Miki would track down the owner or manager and point out that fact. If a public facility wasn't accessible, she would make sure officials knew. She squeaked for those whose voice sometimes wasn't loud enough.

She founded SEMO Alliance for Disability Independence in 1993, serving as the organization's original executive director. In that role, Miki diligently worked to make Southeast Missouri more accessible and welcoming for those who faced physical and developmental barriers.

"I had a lot of different people coming to me who had a variety of disabilities. Some were spinal cord injuries. Some had multiple sclerosis or cerebral palsy or encephalitis, which kind of mimics polio. So I evolved out of a polio support group into something disability-related. You need support. You need to know what you're feeling is OK. Later, people started to say, 'I'm having trouble getting into the store or trying to find transportation.' Transportation was a really big problem for us as was employment of people with disabilities. Accessibility of housing, too," Gudermuth said in a 2020 interview with B Magazine, after being named one of the region's Difference Makers.

For someone in a wheelchair, such as Miki, little things could be big hurdles.

"I didn't think about the hardships somebody in a wheelchair faces until I traveled with Miki," explained Donna Thompson, who has led SADI since 2019, after Miki retired. "You have to find the curb cuts. A lot of times those cuts are at the other end of the sidewalk. You have to get through doorways, get into bathrooms and down aisles. In a store, doing that can be almost impossible."

Under Miki's leadership, SADI was true to its mission in part because of policies that put people with disabilities in positions to effect change.

"An independent living center was created, and it had to be run in the beginning by somebody who had a disability. Fifty-one percent of those on the (SADI) board had to have a disability as well as the staff (and) that's how we could mentor people and so people could relate to us," Gudermuth noted.

While working on behalf of those with disabilities was Miki's mission in life, that work didn't completely define her. She was a talented artist, winning various awards for paintings and drawings, teaching art at a community college in Tennessee for a time and opening a business to showcase her art, Pawtraits by Miki.

She and her husband, Chuck, spent 41 years together before he preceded her in 2021.

SADI will hold a 30th anniversary celebration at its Cape Girardeau headquarters, 755 S. Kingshighway, at noon Friday, Sept. 29.

A celebration of her life will be held at 10 a.m. Saturday, Oct. 7, in SADI's Community Room. Memorial contributions may be given to SADI and gifts may be made online at fordandlileyfuneralhome.com.

"The squeaky wheel gets the grease."

Miki Gudermuth's perseverance, drive and service to others compels a modified version.

The squeaky wheel can grease the way for others, making their lives a bit easier and helping them maintain their dignity and agency.