I will cross post to the AR forum as well, but thought those in the Stockton area of CA might know this woman.
Holly Pyle, champion for animals, dies
JENNIFER TORRES
Record Staff Writer
Published Wednesday, Oct 26, 2005
STOCKTON -- ....Pyle, who rescued and rehabilitated animals in San Joaquin County, died Saturday after being diagnosed with cancer in August. She was 56.
Pyle was a Santa Cruz "valley girl" who became a farmer, a reserved woman who became a magnetic leader, said her husband, Michael Leach. She was a University of California, Davis-trained biologist who developed a spiritual connection to animals, especially cats.
"To oversimplify, to condense it," Leach said Tuesday, "there was a growing sense for her that all life is sacred."
Penny Dearborn, who helped found the shelter friends group and leads the Valley Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, said Pyle's biology training was an asset.
Later, Pyle spearheaded an effort to trap feral cats to have them spayed or neutered, and she eventually founded Abandoned Cat Team.
But cats were her passion, he added. Her ultimate goal was to found a mobile spay-and-neuter clinic that would serve the Stockton area. "For her, it always came down to, 'What will save the most cats?' " Leach said.
Funeral services for Pyle are scheduled for 10 a.m. Nov. 5 at Frisbie-Warren and Carroll Mortuary, 809 N. California St. in Stockton. Donations to the Abandoned Cat Team's spay-neuter fund may be sent to Abandoned Cat Team, P.O. Box 77842, Stockton, CA 95207.
Contact reporter Jennifer Torres at 209 546-8252 or jtorres@recordnet.com
http://www.recordnet.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20051026/NEWS01/510260332/1001