Meet the VVAW/VAW Board!

We are pleased to announce that Debra Griggs and Peyton Coyner have been elected to the Board of Virginia Voters for Animal Welfare (VVAW) and of the tax deductible 501(c)(3), Virginians for Animal Welfare (VAW), bringing Board membership to seven. Mollie McCurdy has assumed the role of Board Member Emeritus for both Boards as well.

We thought you would like to know something about your Board members. Their bios follow in alphabetical order as provided by each Board member:

Lillian S. Clancy

Lillian Clancy grew up in Cicero, IL, graduated from Northwestern University, and taught in Wilmette, IL, prior to moving to California. In San Francisco, Lillian received her MA and continued teaching in both Oakland and San Francisco. After raising three children, she started her executive search firm, Clancy Associates. Animals have always been part of her life. She and her husband, Don Marro, moved to Virginia in 1995, bringing with them their family of dogs and cats. Learning about the incredible number of pets that die yearly for lack of homes prompted the establishment of what has become Virginia Voters for Animal Welfare, a group she and Don co-founded. Lillian and Don live in Fauquier County with a cat and a large group of rescued dogs.

Peyton Coyner

Peyton is a semi-retired engineer from the ship-building industry. He has had dogs all his life and has been involved in all aspects of his local rural (Nelson County) Humane Society for over 25 years. He is on the boards of several political and environmental volunteer organizations, edits & publishes a Sierra Club newsletter, crafts stained glass, canoes, and has had some success with the Style Invitational, a humor writing contest in the Washington Post. He is married, has 3 rescue dogs and is an 8th generation Virginian.


Donald C. Marro

Don Marro grew up in New Jersey and graduated from Rutgers University with a BA and MBA. Don's work experience was mostly at Sony with some Northern Telecom mixed in, in marketing and general management positions, and later at several entrepreneurial ventures including MicroPro, HotelTech, Surpass Software, and Software Technology SA. Most recently, Don has been a real estate investor, animal welfare activist and co-founder with his wife, Lillian Clancy, of VVAW.

Kimbra Kincheloe

Kim Kincheloe has been an animal lover and "rescuer" all her life, something she inherited from her mother, Virginia Kincheloe. She currently has 11 dogs and 3 cats - all rescues. In the mid-80's, she and her mother became involved with an "official" animal rescue organization, The Pet Assistance League. Through that organization, they rescued and rehomed hundreds of animals. In 1999, they formed their own organization, Lionhearts, Inc., and with cooperation from Spot-sylvania County, opened a low-cost spay/neuter clinic serving the Fredericksburg area. Since then, their clinic has spayed and neutered over 22,000 animals. Kim has been a Realtor in the Fredericksburg area for over 25 years. She has also served on the Economic Development Authority for Spotsylvania County for 10 years, and is currently the chairman.

Patrick H. Weakland

Patrick Weakland was born in Pennsylvania and moved to Washington, DC, then Virginia in 1955. He has lived in Warsaw, Richmond County, VA since 1999. He is retired from commercial aviation as a pilot of 31 years and remains active in general aviation. He is a volunteer for the Westmoreland County Animal Shelter and has adopted from Essex, Orange, and Richmond/Westmoreland counties in Virginia. He has been with Virginia Voters For Animal Welfare since its beginning, and founded the Northern Neck Chapter of VVAW in early 2005.

AND, Board Member Emeritus: Mollie McCurdy

Mollie McCurdy graduated from George Peabody College for Teachers in Nashville, Tennessee in 1960, and taught in Fairfax County, Virginia until 1965. Mollie became a cruelty investigator in Fairfax and Loudoun Counties from 1971 to 1982. She also worked with the Fairfax Animal Welfare League and the Fairfax Humane Society. Molly moved to Calvert County, Maryland in 1983 and founded Animal's Best Friends and became a Humane Investigator there. She also served on the Tri-County Animal Shelter Advisory Board, appointed by Calvert County Commissioners, from 1986 until 1992. She is a founding member of VVAW and does private animal rescue in the Augusta County, Virginia area. Mollie shares her home with five dogs and two cats, all rescued.

Updated November 11, 2007