OAKWOOD, VA (JULY 16, 2024) – It is with great sadness that the Appalachian College of Pharmacy (ACP) mourns the news of the death on Sunday, July 14, 2024, of its founder, Frank Kilgore.
“Kilgore was a real mountaineer, a true son of Southwest Virginia and a visionary leader, who spent his entire life working to make his state and the Appalachian region a better place to live,” according to his long-time friend and ACP President Mickey McGlothlin.
Kilgore was born and raised in the Honey Branch area outside of St. Paul in Wise County, VA. He was a graduate of St. Paul High School and Clinch Valley College, now the University of Virginia’s College at Wise, where he earned a degree in Appalachian Studies. He read law and passed the Virginia Bar examination, becoming a licensed attorney in the Commonwealth of Virginia. He then opened his law practice in St. Paul and soon became known as an attorney who took challenging and difficult cases while being a strong advocate for his clients’ rights.
Kilgore began representing Buchanan County as an attorney in 1992 alongside McGlothlin and was a devoted advocate for enhancing the economy of Southwest Virginia while protecting its environment and improving its healthcare.
In 1997, Kilgore made the necessary contacts to bring the Appalachian School of Law to Grundy, VA and served as one of the members of its board of trustees during its formative years. The Appalachian School of Law now has 1,711 graduates.
Due to the early success of the law school, he was asked by the Buchanan County Board of Supervisors to study what other educational programs could be successful in the county. As a result of that study, he determined that a Doctor of Pharmacy program could be successful in Buchanan County.
He founded the Appalachian College of Pharmacy (ACP) in 2003 as a project of the Buchanan County Board of Supervisors and the Buchanan County Industrial Development Authority. He served the college as its first chairman of the board of trustees and also as its general legal counsel. ACP is now the pharmacy component of a group of healthcare institutions, including the Edward Via College of Osteopathic Medicine (VCOM), one of the largest providers of primary care physicians in the nation; and Bluefield University, which provides undergraduate and graduate healthcare fields of study. Appalachian College of Pharmacy provides free wellness testing to the general public and free maintenance medications to low-income people who do not have insurance or Medicaid. Since its inception, ACP has graduated 1,072 students, most of whom are practicing pharmacists throughout the United States, with the majority practicing in Central Appalachia.
Kilgore was an environmentalist, who strongly believed industry and the environment can and must co-exist. In the 1970s, he was one of the national leaders in the effort to acquire the passage of the Federal Surface Coal Mine Act of 1977. As a result of his efforts, he was invited to the White House by then President Jimmy Carter for the signing of the act. Kilgore took President Carter a jar of honey from Honey Branch.
Later, as an attorney for Buchanan County, he was one of the leaders in the effort to have the Southern Gap area (formerly known as Poplar Gap) in Buchanan County surface mined to develop an economic development site in an environmentally beautiful area. He was also a leader in the effort to change Virginia’s laws in order to establish an elk herd in the Southern Gap area. Today, Southern Gap is one of America’s most beautiful areas and is known for its elk herd which co-exists with the businesses, industries and homes that are located on the former surface mining site.
He was a trailblazer, having had a hand in the development of numerous hiking and biking trails in the region; was involved in the preservation and protection of the Great Channels of Virginia; and was instrumental in the development of the Clinch River State Park. He was also a leader in developing a program whereby probationers perform community service to pick up litter in Southwest Virginia counties.
Kilgore was the son of Arthur W. Kilgore and Clinas Johnson Kilgore. His father was a World War II veteran, a coal miner and a proud member of the United Mine Workers of America. Coming from a coal mining family, Kilgore believed strongly in the benefits of the coal industry to the state and nation and that coal should be mined in such a manner so as to protect the health and safety of the miners while providing them with a decent standard of living. As a result of these beliefs, he represented individual members of the United Mine Workers in their legal difficulties during the 1988 UMWA strike. The son of a coal miner, he was proud of his roots.
He believed in protecting children and that every child should be provided a quality education regardless of economic background. As a result of these beliefs, he represented the Virginia Education Association and led the fight in Virginia to protect children from secondhand smoke, proposing and writing legislation advocating for that protection which was passed by the Virginia General Assembly.
In an effort to enhance the region’s economy, Kilgore was instrumental in the founding of New Peoples Bank, which is one of the largest banks based in Southwest Virginia and which also has offices in West Virginia, Tennessee and North Carolina. He served as a member of the board of directors for the bank and as its legal counsel for a number of years. Today, the bank has approximately 275 employees.
In an effort to promote Southwest Virginia and to try to erase negative stereotypes about it which have been promulgated by the national media, he wrote three books, including his most popular “Postcards from Southwest Virginia.” He was also the author of numerous Op-Ed pieces in various newspapers throughout the state.
“No one in the history of Southwest Virginia has had Frank’s passion for the development and improvement of this region,” said Joe Wolfe, a Norton, VA attorney and founder of the Appalachian School of Law.
“Frank was a good friend of mine and one of the greatest ambassadors of Southwest Virginia,” McGlothlin said. “He was always promoting its natural wonders, its beauty, its industry, the good of its people and the place as somewhere you can bring your family to have a good life. Frank Kilgore made a significant difference in not only Southwest Virginia but in the State of Virginia and the entire Appalachian Region. He will be greatly missed.”
He is survived by his wife, Teresa Chafin, of Lebanon, VA, who is a Virginia Supreme Court Justice; his daughter, Joyce Kilgore, of Castlewood, VA; his son, Jason Kilgore, of St. Paul; his sister, Jean Kilgore, of St. Paul, who was his office manager and right-hand-person; grandchildren, Bryce Kilgore, Suzanne Scheerer, Kennedy Kilgore and Adam Scheerer; and several nieces and nephews.
The Appalachian College of Pharmacy is the only three-year Doctor of Pharmacy program in the Commonwealth of Virginia. Founded in 2003, the college accepted its first students in 2005. It is accredited by the Accreditation Council for Pharmacy Education (ACPE) and the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges (SACSCOC). Its mission is to cultivate a learning community committed to education, community outreach and the professional development of pharmacists. Its graduate pharmacists are now practicing throughout the United States.
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