10/03/2025
Another former "Real Talk" expert panelist, Kitty Dooley, left us this week.
She will be a tremendous loss to us. Rest well.
Kanawha County Commission Mourns the Loss of Community Leader Kitty Dooley
Charleston, W.V. – The Kanawha County Commission is saddened to learn about the passing Katherine “Kitty” Dooley today.
She leaves behind a remarkable legacy of community advocacy and volunteering, serving with Charleston’s YWCA Committee for Racial Equity and Inclusion and the Charleston–Kanawha Housing Authority.
She was recently honored by the community with the unveiling of the YWCA Charleston Katherine “Kitty” Dooley Center for Community Enrichment.
Kitty grew up in Fairmont, WV. She graduated from Marshall University, and then she served as an officer in the military. In 1979, she became the first female ROTC cadet in the state to earn the Army Parachutist Badge. She was a Second Lieutenant in the US Army, later serving as an editor for Military Intelligence magazine.
After leaving the state for a few years, she returned with a strong desire to become a lawyer, attending the West Virginia College of Law. While there, she was involved with the Black Law Students Association and was instrumental in establishing the graduate assistantship for minority recruiting and minority clerkship program. Her passion for social justice carried through her 30-year law career.
Throughout her career, she served on the West Virginia State Bar Young Lawyers Committee and board of governors, president of the Mountain State Bar Association, Inc., and in the capacity of legal redress for the Charleston branch of the NAACP. She has been honored for her work with many accolades, including the Martin Luther King Jr. Holiday Commission Living the Dream Award for Human and Civil Rights, YWCA Women of Achievement and West Virginia Bar Foundation Fellow.
In 2022, she was named a West Virginia Wonder Woman by WV Living magazine, calling her strong WV roots her superpower.
Kanawha County Commission President Ben Salango said, “Kitty Dooley was a trailblazer, an excellent attorney and a fierce community leader. Tera and I send our deepest condolences to the Dooley family during this difficult time.”
Commissoner Lance Wheeler added, “I want to thank Kitty Dooley not only for her service to our country, but for her service to our local community. She stood strongly for what she believed in, and that is admirable. My wife Jessica and I send our condolences.”
Commissioner Natalie Tennant said, “Kitty was an example of a true community servant. She cared about the well-being of those around her and she worked to make situations better for all. I admired her for her courage and willingness to step forward, like when she led the efforts to name a Charleston Street the Honorary Martin Luther King, Jr Boulevard. We loved the special bond we shared by being from the same county, and I appreciated her encouraging and thoughtful advice to me. West Virginia has lost a treasure.”
