Lori Jeanne White Wills

John Aquilino my friend and confidant and surrogate brother and more for the past twenty years was instrumental in working to uncover clinical trials and new directions in treaments that helped keep Lori alive years longer than anyone thought possible with her disease.

He has penned the very beautiful obituary that I have posted below and which we will try and get in the Washington Post unedited over the next 48 hours.  I have also posted three of Lori's favorite pics at the end of the article so everyone can remember how beautiful and how absolutely classy Lori truly was. 

Lori White Wills, compassionate champion of animals large and small and acknowledged head of “Charlie's Angels,” the legislative staff of the late U.S. Rep. Charlie Wilson (D-TX), succumbed to a nearly four year struggle with Triple Negative Breast Cancer.  

She was surrounded by her rescue dog family – 10 toy poodles and one mixed breed from the war-scarred streets of Israel; her devoted human family: husband, David K. Wills; her son, Stephen Ron Berry; his fiancée, Victoria Gibbons; and her faithful caregiver and friend, Sara Baker at their home in Rockport, Texas.

Lori was recognized as a leading figure in Montgomery County Maryland’s animal rescue community.  

She and husband David personally funded medical procedures for hundreds of domestic and wild animals including a surgically repaired shoulder for a young white tail deer injured by a car.  The young buck, returned to the wild, yet three years later still regularly visits their Maryland home’s backyard.

A graduate of the last four-year Capital Page School class, Lori played an integral behind-the-scenes role in many of the key legislative activities of Rep. Wilson including orchestrating his successful attempt to provide sophisticated weaponry to the Afghanistan resistance in their conflict with Russia.

Lori’s ability to “get things done” at the highest levels of government during her career on Capitol Hill was a credit to her mix of intellect, innate talent and a family steeped in government service.  

Her father, John “Jack” Shurman, who died during her childhood, was a decorated operative for the U.S. intelligence community.  

Her mother, Mary Bernice Shurman White, spent a career working for various Congressional offices.  

Her Stepfather, Lee White was Special Counsel to Presidents John F. Kennedy and Lyndon Johnson and former Chairman of the Federal Power Commission.  He was acknowledged as one of the most powerful figures in Washington D.C. until his death.

Not only was she noted for her dedication to animals, she was also admired for her political and business acumen and her ironic sense of humor.  

She was the author of an autobiographical cookbook: “Half-Baked: Confessions of a True Anti-Chef” in which she admitted her favorite home-cooked meal was the nearest “take out” restaurant and that she never cooked a meal in her life.  She concluded the book with the story of her son, Stephen, becoming a Cordon Bleu-trained chef.  She also played an integral role in the formation of her husband’s company whose intent is to help feed the world.

In addition to her devoted and beloved husband and son, David and Stephen, she is survived by her sister Annie Hunter, brother Donald McGuirt, nephew Kenneth Reynolds as well as numerous cousins living throughout the South.

In lieu of flowers please consider a donation to the Humane Society and Adoption Center of Rockport-Fulton POB 1502, Fulton, Texas 78358

Services will be held at National Memorial Park and King David Memorial Garden, 7482 Lee Highway, Falls Church, VA 22042 ( phone # 703-560-4400 )