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| Local Victim Advocate Calling It a Career -- Sort Of |
A woman whose own life was affected by tragedy turned that into an ability to help others for the last 19 years.
Now, Shirley Pringle is retiring. Pringle is the first and only Victim Advocate in the Knox County State's Attorney's Office, and was honored at a reception Friday, ahead of her actual retirement this coming Friday, at which time Stacy Dutton will replace her.
Pringle got the job after her daughter, Lisa Stone, was killed by a drunk driver in 1989, and tells WGIL she simply wanted her daughter's memory to live on.
"One of the things I said to the reconstruction officer -- at the time it was Sgt. Bill Robinson with the Sheriffs Office -- I said to him 'I wanted something positive to come from her death,'" Pringle said. "I didn't want it to be for nothing."
Before working in the State's Attorney's office, Pringle went with Knox County Sheriffs Deputies to local schools to speak against drinking and driving.
Pringle says she'll still do some volunteer work with the State's Attorney's office, helping victims in some cases when she can, and she'll also continue volunteering with Bridgeway and Mothers Against Drunk Driving.
But she says she has plans to travel, see family and friends, and do something she admits she hasn't really done in quite awhile: clean her house.
(Shirley Pringle is greeted by a well-wisher Friday at the Knox County Courthouse.)
(A table with gifts and memories of Shirley Pringle.)
(A table has Shirley Pringle's various awards on it. WGIL News Story and Photos by Will Stevenson.) |
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| 09 25 10 by Newsroom |
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