Honoree Makes a Difference at Tribute

She stands 4-feet-10, but to the clients, staff and supporters of the Providence Speech and Hearing Center in Orange, founder Dr. Margaret Anne Inman is “our giant.”

That’s how Msgr. William P. McLaughlin of Our Lady Queen of Angels Church in Newport Beach put it Saturday at the center’s 25th anniversary dinner at the Anaheim Marriott hotel.

Providence board member Steve Howard put it another way. “If I could, I’d marry her,” he said as he escorted the diminutive dynamo for a twirl around the dance floor. His wife, Gail, didn’t object at all.

“Our son went to the center for several years, and they’ve made a tremendous difference in his life,” Steve Howard said. “We just love Margaret Anne for all she’s done.”

More than 500 guests paid $250 each to attend the celebration honoring Inman for her 25 years of work with the center. Proceeds from a pre-dinner silent auction brought the net proceeds to about $160,000.

Inman took all the accolades in stride, turning the tables on the center supporters who gathered to thank her. After a surprise video presentation titled “One Person CAN Make a Difference,” Inman went to the podium and politely disagreed.

“You must remember that one person can make a difference, but you need a lot of other people to help,” she said. Twenty-five years ago, she was working as Children’s Hospital of Orange County’s first speech pathologist when she realized there were so many children with communicative disorders that established services could not help them all.

“I went to you and asked you to help make this go,” Inman said. “And somehow, it just went.”

Inman offered special thanks to Carl Karcher, Bill Reilly and Guy Wilson, who have supported the center since its inception.

Hundreds of thousands of children have benefited from the center’s services over the years, and Inman said she’s especially gratified when her former clients come back as adults to tell her about their successful lives.

“With the transient nature of Orange County, that doesn’t happen often, but some of them do keep in touch. If we get these children early enough, their problems can be dealt with and they won’t have continuing problems.”

Other attendees included Ron and Nancy Pharris, Karen and George DeHuff, Mary and Peter Muth, Lynn and Joe Maioriello, Kathleen and Tom Kelley, Dorothy and Tom Kleinbauer, Helga and Robert Pralle, Robert Diamond, Teresa and Ira Bell, Dawna and Tom Pine, Nancy and Richard Celio, Barbara Venezia, Colleen and Richard Hedley, Martha and Craig Carlson, Sheri and Ted Hoover, Joan and Jerry Moore, Barbara and John Stocker, Joy and Rich Freschi, and Jerry and Hal Saldarini.