Janet Souza

Raised by her grandmother in San Francisco, Janet wasn't allowed a dog of her own until she married — and made up for lost time immediately, bringing home a Springer Spaniel puppy with her wedding gift money. Over the years that followed she raised Chihuahuas, Pomeranians, and a Miniature Poodle alongside her three children, before falling for Staffordshire Bull Terriers in 1968 and starting in Obedience. After a trial at a Santa Clara Valley Kennel Club show, she and Linda wandered over to watch conformation judging for the first time. Neither of them left the same.

By 1971, Janet had fallen for the Irish Wolfhound — drawn to the breed's quiet dignity and imposing size. Rather than risk an unproven puppy, she searched for a mature, proven bitch and found one: an 18-month-old Irish import with ten points and a major, whose owner's wife had decided she didn't want the dog in the house anymore. Janet was only too happy to take her off their hands. That bitch, registered in Ireland as Roaree of Limerick — named for her birthplace in County Limerick — gave our kennel its name.

Janet took possession of Roaree at the Santa Clara Valley Kennel Club show in February 1972. After a year of campaigning her to her championship, Janet decided to breed rather than buy her next show dog. In 1973, Roaree produced her one and only litter — twelve puppies, whelped without complication. It was a stroke of luck neither Janet nor Linda fully appreciated at the time: Roaree turned out to be about as close to a perfect foundation bitch as a breeder could hope for, and every Limerick Wolfhound bred since descends from her.

From there, the family built its program slowly and deliberately — guided early on by mentor Suzanne Tierney McCombs of Destiny Irish Wolfhounds, whose pedigrees became closely intertwined with Limerick's own, and by Renee Poston of Apple Arbor Kennels, who helped broker the purchase of Roaree herself.

Janet remained an active, beloved presence in the Wolfhound community for the rest of her life and was well known for keeping perfect statistical show notes in her mini notebooks. In 2013, she traveled to Orlando to see the family honored as the AKC's Hound Group Breeders of the Year. She was the one that started it all, and 50 plus years later she built something that truly endured. She passed away in 2016 at the age of 89 and is still deeply missed by the family and the breed community she helped shape.