Virginia L. Moore Photo: obituary
A “Celebration of Life” for Kentucky’s Virginia Moore is set for June 11 at the Muhammad Ali Center in Louisville.?
The service will be from 1 p.m. to 5 ?p.m. that day, a Sunday, in View Pointe Hall on the top level of the Ali Center at 144 North Sixth Street in Louisville.?
Moore, 61, interpreted – in American Sign Language — news of many deaths and announcements about COVID-19’s hold on Kentucky for Gov. Andy Beshear.?
She died Saturday — Derby Day.?
She became popular when she started signing at many of the official COVID-19 news conferences. In addition to interpreting these news conferences, Moore taught Beshear and the public bits of ASL, her first language.
The Louisville woman’s death came “after an extended stay in the hospital for heart surgery and complications with her lungs and kidneys,” her obituary says.?
In October 2020, the Kentucky Colonel – and subject of a bobblehead – took a roughly two-month break from work to battle ?uterine cancer. She used her experience to advocate for getting mammograms and pap smears and for being COVID-safe.?
Now that she’s gone, her obituary says, “Her dogs, Teddy Bear and Georgia, also mourn her passing as well as many other dogs who loved her over her lifetime.”?
Moore was the executive director of the Kentucky Commission on the Deaf and Hard of Hearing.?
The commission asked that anyone who wants to donate in her honor give to Jacobs Hall Museum or to the Knowledge Center on Deafness.?
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Sarah Ladd
Sarah Ladd is a Louisville-based journalist from West Kentucky who's covered everything from crime to higher education. She spent nearly two years on the metro breaking news desk at The Courier Journal. In 2020, she started reporting on the COVID-19 pandemic and has covered health ever since. As the Kentucky Lantern's health reporter, she focuses on mental health, LGBTQ+ issues, children's welfare, COVID-19 and more.
Kentucky Lantern is part of States Newsroom, the nation’s largest state-focused nonprofit news organization.
