ROANOKE (WSLS 10) - Founder of Saint Francis Service Dogs Carol Willoughby has died. She was 65 years old.
Willoughby was well known and loved in the Roanoke community. She started Saint Francis Service Dogs from her kitchen table in the mid 90s. The organization became one of the nation's most respected service dog organizations, only five-percent of which are accredited, including Saint Francis.
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She suffered from rheumatoid arthritis since she was in her 20s, giving her mobility issues at a young age and eventually confining her to a wheelchair.
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WSLS 10's John Carlin featured Willoughby and her service dog for a story in 1998, which was later aired on CNN. Willoughby told Carlin the story served as the genesis for her decision to begin the Saint Francis Service Dogs organization.
Executive Director of Saint Frances Service Dogs, Cabell Youell, said in a statement to members of the organization:
It is with an extremely heavy heart that I must report to you that Carol Willoughby passed away last night. She was many, many things: beautiful, elegant, regal, brilliant, poised, smart, stoic, passionate, convincing, eloquent…the list goes on and on. Most of all, she was an inspiration to so many of us."
Saint Francis Board President Craig Balzer said that Carol was the driving force behind the organization's drive to grow and succeed, even when she wasn't present at meetings in recent years. "I think all of us on the board look back at the origin of our agency and the founding of the agency by Carol, I know Carol hasn't always been present, but she's always present to us and the inspiration that she's always left us has kept us going as a board," he said.
Board member and service dog recipient Leigh Brill was especially close to Carol. "She called me her 'daughter in spirit' and I called her my 'mother in spirit' and I can't think of higher praise than that," said Brill, when interviewed at her Roanoke County home on Wednesday, with her service dog, Piper curled up beside her.
"I feel more than anything grateful, that she was part of my life and part of so many lives. That is what you set out to do and that is what she does now and I know that she is doing that from heaven," she continued through tear-filled eyes.
Since the organization began in Willoughby's kitchen, it has grown to become a force in the service dog sector, placing dogs across Virginia and within a 300 mile radius of Roanoke. The non-profit is headquartered in Roanoke on an 18 acre former horse farm, which is slowly being converted to a full-fledged service dog training center. The organization completed construction of a state of the art kennel building in 2010 and has plans for further expansion in the future.
Willoughby is survived by her husband, Doug, and her sons.