Wilson H. Grabill was born in Evansville, Wisconsin on December 13, 1912. Mr. Grabill attended public schools until his parents discovered his hearing was badly impaired at age five and attended Wisconsin School for the Deaf at Delavan. He graduated from Gallaudet College in 1934 and received his master’s degree in statistics from American University.

After graduation, Grabill started his job at the Census Bureau and eventually rose to become chief of the family and fertility statistics branch of the population division. During his career, he wrote many articles related to the population pertaining to fertility.

Grabill retired in 1975 after 41 years of service and received the Commerce Department’s Gold Medal in 1962. Also in 1963, he received the Honorary Doctor of Letters Degree from Gallaudet College. He was an active member of the Episcopal Church and the Alexandria- Potomac Lion’s Club. Grabill was also a member of the board for the Population Association of America and the U.S. National Committee of the International Union for the Scientific Study of Population. For many years, he was the secretary of the Board of Trustees of Gallaudet College. Grabill was also a founding member of the National Health Care Foundation for the Deaf (NHCFD) and the organization named a center after him.

In 1936, he married Edna Harbin, who he met at Gallaudet, and had two children. He passed away on January 30, 1983 at age 70.