Anne LeHew Legge, of Winchester, VA, passed away Thursday, June 29 in the Winchester Medical Center. She was 84 years old.

Anne was born in Washington, D. C. to Dr. and Mrs. Allen E. LeHew on March 5, 1933. She grew up in Lewisburg, WV and Clifton Forge, VA, leaving home to attend The College of William and Mary in Williamsburg, VA, where she earned her degree in English and was inducted into the honors organization Phi Beta Kappa. She later earned her Master’s in English at the University of Virginia. While an Apple Blossom princess representing William and Mary, she met W. Reynolds Legge, who was serving as an escort. They married in 1956. After Reynolds’s medical training in Richmond, Roanoke, and Winston-Salem, NC, they returned to Winchester, where they raised their three children, Helen, Ray, and Martha Legge.

Anne was passionate about three things: hounds, education, and friends.

Since 1975 and the acquisition of the family’s first bloodhound, Sherlock, Anne bred, trained, judged, showed, and tracked bloodhounds. She bred numerous bloodhound champions and traveled with them, both nationally and internationally, and she helped other breeders, police departments, pet owners, and bloodhounds in need of rescue. A known authority on bloodhounds, she was president of the American Bloodhound Club and a frequent contributor. She made friends with dog lovers from every walk of life all over the world, the dogs a bond that made everyone her friend. Her home was seldom empty, full of dogs and “dog people,” or “DPs” as the family called them.

She also loved education, both teaching and learning. After college, she taught at Randolph-Macon Women’s College in Lynchburg and at St. Christopher’s School in Richmond. After a hiatus while her children were young, she began teaching English part-time at Lord Fairfax Community College, and then taught full-time there for over thirty years. She taught into her seventies, simply because she enjoyed it so much.

She never stopped learning—constantly reading, constantly questioning. She was a member of Torch Club, winning awards for three of her papers and nominated for another for her paper presented this year on eugenics. She was also on the board of the Friends of the Handley Library and actively supported the local Democratic Party. A devoted reader, she loved to share books and articles, and she participated in several book and movie clubs.

What we will remember most of all is how much Anne enjoyed people. She was a consummate southern hostess and taught her family the value of enjoying the fellowship of great food and drink with family and friends. Whether it was an elaborate dinner party, festive holiday feast, happy hour or a fun BBQ at a dog show, Anne created settings for people to enjoy life. Just weeks before she passed away, she planned and hosted a family evening with an upbeat happy hour and delicious dinner at her home. She could light up a room with her big, southern smile.

With her courage, zest for living, and amazing drive, Anne never allowed the frustrations of her debilitating rheumatoid arthritis to hinder her. She touched the lives of many and will be greatly missed.

She is survived by her daughter, Helen Legge of Winchester and granddaughter, Rebecca Anne White of Oklahoma City; her son, Ray Legge, daughter-in-law, Mary Adams-Legge, and grandsons, Withrow Legge of Winchester and Armi Legge of Vienna, VA; her daughter, Martha Bancroft, son-in-law, Chuck Bancroft, and grandsons, Christopher and Chase Bancroft of Jackson, Wyoming; her brother, Dr. Bill LeHew of Norfolk, VA and his family; and her brother, Dr. Richard LeHew of Manakin Sabot, VA and his family.

In lieu of flowers, Anne asked that donations be sent to The Arthritis Foundation at www.arthritis.org.

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