"The idea is not to live forever, it is to create something that will" ~Andy Warhol
It is with broken hearts and disbelief that we are mourning the loss of one of our founding members and President, Penny Emerson.
Penny succumbed to this vicious virus of covid on Wednesday November 18 after a month long battle.
Penny was strong, determined and resolute. She knew what she wanted to make happen, made it happen and did not waver on what she thought was right. Stoic and reserved at times but that certainly did not reflect the magnitude of her compassion, desire, and intense need to save and rescue as many dogs as possible especially the ones that were thrown away. The puppy mill dogs, the ones dumped on the
, the senior dogs no longer wanted by their families, street dogs from the middle east, the sickly, the blind, the deaf and the dogs that she knew did not have much time left in this world. It was nothing for Penny to drive 5 hours one way, load up her Honda with as many dogs that could fit inside and drive back in one day. One has no idea how many dogs in dog crates can fit into a Honda until you helped Penny unload her car from a puppy mill rescue! She would leave a fundraiser bake sale to go home to bake more goodies and bring them back hot from the oven to be sure the fundraiser had enough to sell. And if you knew of her baking you were one of the fortunate ones.
Not only could she bake but she could craft anything, sew, decorate, cook, organize and was truly so creative and gifted in many ways. Everything she did had the perfect touch to it. If you needed to know how to do something all you had to do was ask Penny... and there was no doubt if you needed anything to complete your project she would have the supplies to do that. Just give her a moment to look in her bag of tricks and she would have what you needed.
Penny's home was always filled with several foster dogs in addition to her own companion animals... on a few occasions some fosters never left. She was very well known in the rescue community and the void that her loss has created will be felt by many for a long time to come. She was a true advocate for the dogs, basing all her decisions on what was right for them and only them. She fought hard to change their future after having gone thru whatever had happened to them prior to coming into BARC. Penny's legacy will live on thru BARC. We volunteers will need to learn to navigate the future without our leader knowing it will be a tough and emotional road. BARC was her heart and soul and we must continue on for her. We will continue to fight for those souls that are thrown away, continue to educate folks that do not know any better, and work hard to create a culture of compassion that can be passed on and on to help make positive changes that do indeed last forever.
Penny leaves behind her loving son, Stephen, and daughter-in-law, Diana, her beloved grandson, Dimitri, who was her little sidekick often times hanging out with BARC volunteers. Please lift up her family with loving thoughts and prayers during this time of mourning.
We volunteers are stunned and are trying to digest and process what has happened as best as we can. We cannot say how truly grateful and thankful we are for all your words of kindness, condolences and support in this terrible time.
Penny Emerson August 28, 1957 - November 18, 2020
Rest in peace, Penny. You will be missed more than you could ever know.
Vanessa Roznowski Kelly Mardis Liz Pilgrim Kristina Storey
