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Today's Featured Biography

Cheryl Grindle Mc Coy

Most of my friends claim that I have had a colorful life. Not that I'm through yet!! I suspect that is relitive. I've been in serveral fields over the years prior to finding my niche. These same friends think I should be about 80 years old after reading my resume. I got bored easy so I moved around a lot. When I left Portsmouth in 1966, I had just married George Lecki and moved to New York ( Long Island ) where I did some modelimg. The marriage lasted 2 1/2 years and I moved to Virginia where Laurie was living. I stayed there about two years and then moved to D.C. where I became quite a fixture at the white House. I got interested in auto racing--participating, not spectating!!That was funnnn. After Watergate, I needed to move and went to NC where I got disenchanted within six months. I should have known that wouldn't work after DC. I went back to Virginia where Laurie (the RN0 and I opened a restaurant. Well, That didn't work for me either, so I headed for California, ending up in San Diego. From there, I went to the Bay area (San Francisco). Worked for a company who moved me around a lot so I didn't have many roots. After doing a few things that satisfied my need to be a maverick such as
being the only women in the country doing a particular job, I decided I needed to be self-employed permanently and have been ever since.
I spent a few years in various fields and owning businesses including accounting, bookkeeping, tax preparation and electrical contracting. I also spent some time teaching dancing, ice skating and cheerleading. I married Gordon Goldman, a native of California, in 1980, who had two kids, Steven and Laura. I then decided to get into the pet industry. I bought a pet store in Lafayette, CA and knew very shortly that this field could hold my interest. I've always loved animals. I then decided to finally put my psychology background to work and went from human psychology to animal psychology. I started in dog training, getting involved in many aspects of the dog fancy including competition and ultimately becoming an animal behavior counselor. My marriage to Gordon lasted 8 years. My step-father had been ill for a number of years and died in 1991. It was then that I decided to move back East. I wanted to be with my family. I had usually managed to visit several times a year but thought I better move back before my heart kept me in San Francisco. My mother had remarried the year after I married George and moved to Connecticut. When my step-father got ill in 1981, they retired and moved to Virginia to be near the grandkids and have warmer weather. I never had any children of my own but have enjoyed being a step-mom. Less than a year after moving to Lexington, I met and married my present husband Steve McCoy, who actually lived in Illinois at the time. I have a step-daughter, Connie, and two grandchildren, James and Rebecca. So, after only being in Virginia for a year, I moved to Illinois (about 65 miles west of Chicago). Seven months later we moved back to Virginia. I think I'm staying this time! I'm getting too old to keep doing this!! I have moved 25 times in 33 years! That's probably a record somewhere. Steve and I are both self-employed and our schedules get hectic but I am doing what I love most, working with animals. I'm now in the process of buying another pet store. I am presently the owner of Lexington Pet Care Center and Paws Forward K-9 Obedience School and am Co-Founder of an organization called Virginia Share-A-Pet. We do therapy work in nursing homes and hospitals as well as educational programs in the schools. I am actively involved in several organizations both locally and on a national level. I plan to be teaching some courses this coming year at a local college that until now have not been offered at a collegiate level. My latest project is Canine Freestyle, which is basically a choreographed performance with music, illustrating the training and joyful relationship of a dog and handler team. It's scored similar to ice skating, half for Technical merit and half for Artistic Impression. I am presently president of a national Freestyle club. I knew I had to do this when I first heard of it because of my love of dancing and ice skating, not to mention my relationship with my dogs. I currently have five dogs (GSD, Rott, BC, AkitaX & Cocker), five pot-bellied pigs, two Caiques (parrots) and a Ragdoll (cat). In my spare time I do some rescue work, serve on several boards, and publish a monthly Newsletter. I also have two nephews, Jay and Pete (Laurie's sons) and one grand-nephew, Lukas, who is four years old. My niece, Leigh Ann, died in an auto accident three years ago at age 27, leaving an 11-month old son who my sister is raising. Has the last 36 years been colorful? Maybe. Been interesting? Absolutely! Oh, and my name, Cheryl. Haven't been called that since I left Portsmouth. My family always did call me either Cherie or Cher so that's what I've been using all these years.

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