Prominent Norfolk animal rights advocate Debra Griggs dies at 69: ‘She was just a bright light’
Fellow volunteers, family and friends, especially the four-legged variety, will gather Saturday to remember Debra Griggs, a prominent animal rights advocate who died last month. The service will be held at 2 p.m. at the Ascension Episcopal Church, 405 Talbot Hall Road in Norfolk. Griggs was 69.
“She was just a bright light, she was full of energy, full of integrity,” said Steve Ballard, her husband of 43 years. Today would have been their 44th wedding anniversary.
When Ballard announced his wife’s death on Facebook, comments started pouring in. He said more than 350 people left comments, some sharing details of her work that he had never known. Griggs died from complications of cachexia after a long and successful battle with breast cancer.
“She was working at her desk up till the evening,” Ballard said, “always doing good.”
Griggs grew up in Peterstown, West Virginia, and moved to Norfolk with her husband in 1982, a few years after they married. Griggs was an opera singer and toured with opera companies along the East Coast, before switching careers and working in real estate.
Griggs dedicated her life to multiple volunteer causes. In addition to her work with animals, she was also highly involved with the Junior League. Griggs also spent time raising awareness and funding for AIDS research after a close friend contracted the virus. She was recognized for her work with the Ryan White HIV Care Consortium.
Ballard said Griggs’ love of animals blossomed after they adopted their first dog early in their marriage, a 6-month-old shepherd named Jasper.
“Jasper was responsible for us getting into animal rescue,” Ballard said. He estimates that 60 to 70 dogs lived in their house as the couple fostered rescues over the years.
Griggs founded Animal Resources of Tidewater in 1999, and through the years, the nonprofit provided spay/neuter services, housing for thousands of animals, and veterinary care funding for low-income families.
Griggs, who was featured in The Pilot multiple times for her volunteer work and advocacy efforts, once said in an interview that what she loves most about animals is their love of life and optimism.
“They don’t replay yesterday and they don’t worry about tomorrow,” she said in 2020. “They ‘live in the moment.’ It is a way of life to embrace.”
Ballard said his late wife was also a friend to everyone she met.
“Everyone who met her just fell in love with her,” he said. “For the most part, she stayed in touch with them and stayed friends with them. She never forgot anybody.”
Ballard said when asked during an interview several years ago how she wanted to be remembered, Griggs said: “I want to be remembered as an agent of change, a person who made a difference in whatever she was up to, who inspired and enrolled others to do the same. Be an action. The rent on Earth isn’t free. If you feel something in your heart, pay attention to it.”
Instead of flowers, her family asks that people consider donating to Animal Resources of Tidewater.
Nour Habib, nour.habib@virginiamedia.com
