Virginia Moore, who became a pandemic-era fixture in Kentucky as the sign language interpreter for Gov. Andy Beshear's widely watched briefings on the COVID-19 outbreak, has died.
Moore, 61, died Saturday from complications after a brief illness, said Amy Hatzel, board chair of the Kentucky Commission on the Deaf and Hard of Hearing, where Moore had a long career.
In announcing his friend's death in an extended social media post, the governor said that Moore "taught us all the importance of leading with love and inclusion." He called her a "rock of stability and grace" during the pandemic and said she "helped bring us all together in our most challenging times."
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Moore announced in 2020 that she was suffering from uterine cancer and said she would undergo a hysterectomy as treatment. She returned to the job about a month later, the Courier Journal reported.
Moore, a longtime advocate for the deaf and hard-of-hearing, was executive director of the Kentucky Commission on the Deaf and Hard of Hearing.
In a statement announcing the death of its "beloved" director, the commission said: "Our hearts are broken, and we will forever feel her absence." Moore had been with the commission since 1995 and was appointed its executive director in 2009, according to the commission's website.
Kentucky has more than 700,000 deaf and hard-of-hearing residents, the commission said.
Moore gained celebrity status across the Bluegrass State as Beshear's sidekick at his daily COVID briefings during the early stages of the pandemic. She even got her own bobblehead.
Standing near the governor at his many briefings, she kept deaf and hard-of-hearing Kentuckians updated on developments in the fight against the pandemic.
"When COVID hit, I thought to myself, ‘How’s everybody going to get the information? How are the constituents that I serve going to get the information?'" she said in an interview.
She contacted the governor's office and was invited to join Beshear at the briefings.
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"So when the door was opened, I put my foot right in and I wasn't going to let it close," Moore recalled.
The pandemic is blamed for more than 18,000 deaths in Kentucky.
Moore's death brought an outpouring of tributes on social media.
Kentucky Auditor Mike Harmon said he was saddened to learn of his friend's death.
"She was passionate about her work and its impact on those she helped," he said.
Harmon is among a dozen Republicans running for governor in Kentucky's May 16 primary. Beshear, a Democrat, is seeking reelection to a second term this year.
The commission where she worked said memorial services for Moore are pending.
The governor concluded his tribute with the familiar words of encouragement he used to end his many COVID briefings with Moore at his side.
"I will miss her greatly, but as Virginia would remind us in our grief: We will get through this; we will get through this together," Beshear said.
