Former Pony Express Therapy Dogs Executive Director, Bill Luce, remembered for influential work

ST. JOSEPH, Mo. (KQTV)-- William "Bill" Oliver Luce, a former executive director of Pony Express Therapy Dogs in 2014, passed away on Jan. 15, 2026. 

Luce grew up in St. Joseph and graduated from Lafayette High School in 1967.  

He later continued his education at Northwest Missouri State University, where he studied education with an emphasis in social studies.  

His wife, Sharon, shared how deeply her husband cared about making a difference in the community and just how far he went to do that.  

“He loved teaching. People said he didn’t teach; he told stories, and that’s what stuck with him more than teaching. He said I am not going to teach the book; someone else can do that. I am going to talk about the people,” Sharon said.  

Right after college, he worked as a substitute teacher in St. Joseph before picking up an additional teaching position. He later spent four years teaching in Hamilton, Missouri.  

Luce said he constantly encouraged kids to get involved in whatever they were passionate about and not worry if they weren’t especially athletic.  

“He used to call it the varsity sport of the mind and brought the kids out of their shell,” Luce added.  

When it came time to think about retirement, Bill didn’t picture slowing down. Instead, he found a new passion — therapy dogs.  

It started when the couple adopted a bearded collie, followed by rescuing a greyhound.  

Driving back and forth to Lincoln, Nebraska, to be part of an existing therapy dog group eventually became too difficult, so Bill and several others decided to form their own.  

The group became Pony Express Therapy Dogs.  

“It's so rewarding to see what the students and the older people in the nursing home, hospice people do. It makes you feel good that you have done something and that’s the way he looked at it too,” Sharon said.  

According to Sharon, Bill never saw his work as a responsibility or a burden. To him, it was always about passion and the opportunity to explore something  

Together, Bill and Sharon adopted two whippets, a breed of sighthound that resembles a Greyhound, who regularly visited as therapy dogs. One of them was nominated for the “Willow Award,” which recognizes exceptional therapy whippets.  

“The younger one we have is actually her niece, and she is six years old now and she has done about 50 visits so far, but she is just getting started,” Sharon said.  

Sharon said what she misses most about her husband is his constant drive to help others.  

“I wanna do this, I wanna do that he would always say and he wanted to make a positive difference and he did not get into politics because he said it was a little overwhelming, but he wanted to do other things,” Sharon said.  

Sharon described her husband as someone with an incredible demeanor — kind, patient and steady. She hopes he's remembered for the work he has done.  

Sharon said she will continue scheduling and doing visits with the therapy dogs.