Margaret \"Peggy\" O'Hare Irwin

ASHEVILLE—Founder of ChainFree Asheville, Margaret "Peggy" O'Hare Irwin passed away on Sunday, October 14, 2012, after a two-year battle with cancer. She died at home in the company of her family, friends and beloved dogs. Peggy was born in Washington, DC, on March 30, 1948. Her mother was Ms. Mary Margaret McGuire O'Hare of Knoxville, Tenn. Her father was Dr. Patrick O'Hare of Homestead, Pa. In addition to her mother and father, Peggy was also preceded in death by her beloved aunts, Ellen McGuire, Kathleen McGuire, and Anne Bea McGuire Nelligan, as well as her cousins, Julia Nelligan and Michael Nelligan. Peggy grew up in Arlington, Va., graduating from Washington and Lee High School. She earned a bachelor's degree in journalism from the University of Tennessee at Knoxville, and later an MBA from George Washington University in DC. Except for a brief two-year period in the 70s when she lived in San Francisco, she lived and worked in the DC area before coming to Asheville in 2002. While in San Francisco she was part of the original marketing team at Bank of America that introduced the first VISA card to the nation. For the rest of her career, she held marketing and development executive positions at various national organizations based in DC such as the American Society for Training and Development, the American Diabetes Society, National Association of Social Workers, and the National Science Teachers Association. In 1991, Peggy helped organize and execute the four-day White House Conference on Libraries and Information Services, keynoted by a speech from President George Bush. In 2000 she married Patrick Irwin in Washington. They moved to Asheville in 2002 to purchase the North Lodge Bed and Breakfast. In 2008 they sold the B&B and this allowed Peggy to take up her passion of helping to get dogs off of chains. She founded ChainFree Asheville that same year and they began to build fences for chained dogs and educating the public about the safety and humane issues of chaining dogs. In 2009 she was instrumental in having the City Council review their animal ordinances that resulted in the banning of dog chaining in the City of Asheville. Under Peggy's leadership, ChainFree Asheville built fences for over 100 dogs for eligible owners to help in the transition and implementation of the new ordinance. C.F.A.'s current mission is to help chained dogs in Buncombe County. Peggy is survived by her husband, Patrick Irwin; her stepson, Ryan Irwin, his wife, Sarah, and their daughter, Norah, of West Hills, Calif.; her cousin, John Roger Nelligan, his wife, Joanne, their children, Joseph, Mary-Anne and Jenette of Deal, Md.; and her second cousin, Seamus McGuire and his wife Marti from Birmingham, England. Also surviving are her brother-in-law, Bill Irwin, his wife Patricia, his son Jeffrey; and brother-in-law, Tom Irwin and his wife Dee and their children, Julie Irwin, Laura Irwin, and David Irwin. Also, Peggy will be missed by Reese and Allie for treats and love. A celebration of Peggy's life will be held at 7:00 p.m., Friday, October 19, 2012, at the Asheville Humane Society Adoption and Education Center's Community Room located at 14 Forever Friends Lane, Asheville. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to ChainFree Asheville, 76 Tremont, Asheville, NC 28806, or to your favorite local animal welfare organization. For those who desire, condolences may be offered to the family under Peggy's obituary at www.WestFamilyFuneralServices.com.