Nate Porritt is a family man with a wife and two children who lives in Suttons Bay. He works for the village’s Department of Public Works, and recently has been doing a lot of plowing in private subdivisions. After work, he settles in on the couch in the living room and dials up the Lions’ game.
And in conversation, Porritt pays close attention to the other person’s lips. He’s deaf, and although he wears a hearing aid device in his right ear, he’s able to see the words better by watching mouth movement. It’s a rare skill that he’s developed over the years. Porritt and his brother Nick have had impaired hearing since they were born.
“I’m probably the worst off in my family with the hearing,” Porritt said. “I have a brother and a sister. My sister is normal, like you, but my brother is also deaf.”
Porritt might be deaf, but that doesn’t mean he can only communicate with people through sign language. He answered the newspaper’s questions out loud. He said he grew up in Bingham Township before moving to Suttons Bay a couple years ago.
“I talk by reading lips — that’s how I learned to do it. And with my job, I do a lot of physical work. I don’t rely on hearing to do everything; I just look at people when they need to tell me how to do things. I can make it work,” Porritt explained.
Porritt’s father — who also had impaired hearing — moved to Leelanau County from Grand Rapids, and met his wife-to-be, another newcomer to the county from Royal Oak, at Suttons Bay High School, Porritt said.
Porritt’s mother sadly passed away about 10 years ago, and both Nate and his brother Nick wear Christian crosses around their necks made by their mother in her memory.
Being born deaf wasn’t too much of an obstacle to Porritt when he was younger. Growing up, he remembers his teachers at school using special microphones that were connected via electronic chips to his hearing aid, which allowed him to follow along in class.
And Nick Porritt, who is also deaf, was able to play on the high school football team with the help of a sign language interpreter, who would communicate plays to him from the sidelines. Nate Porritt thinks he might encourage his son to play football himself once he’s old enough.
While their sister moved away to live in Florida, both Porritt brothers are active in the community on the little peninsula. They’re living proof that people can overcome a serious physical disadvantage — missing one of their five senses — and lead happy and fulfilling lives.
