Kelly Willenberg lost her husband, Dale, to a distracted driver on Highway 221 in 2017 — and nearly a decade later, she's channeling that grief into both statewide policy change and a thank-you to the first responders who stayed by his side as he died. Dale Willenberg was riding his bicycle home from his job at Spartanburg Regional the evening of June 29, 2017, when a driver struck him from behind.
The driver later admitted to distracted driving, telling authorities he had checked a text on a phone mounted to his dashboard, according to FOX Carolina. Dale never regained consciousness. Kelly Willenberg was in North Carolina returning from a work training when she got the call, and doctors told her about 24 hours later that Dale had no brain activity, the station reports. He was rushed to Spartanburg Regional Hospital, the same facility where he worked as a certified registered nurse anesthetist. Willenberg ultimately decided to donate his organs, and she has said first responders stayed with Dale and held his hand in his final moments.
Dale Willenberg was 57 years old, a U.S. Army veteran who served as a Green Beret Major in Special Forces, and an avid cyclist for nearly 20 years before his death, according to his AL.com obituary. That combination — a career spent caring for patients and a life built around service — is part of what has driven his widow's yearslong advocacy push in Columbia and across the Upstate.
From Personal Loss to Statewide Law
Kelly Willenberg supported South Carolina's Hands-Free and Distracted Driving Act, which Governor Henry McMaster signed after it passed the state legislature. The law, formally known as House Bill 3276, expanded the state's previous texting ban — which had only outlawed typing, sending, or reading text-based messages while driving — to prohibit drivers from holding or physically supporting a mobile device with any part of their body while behind the wheel, according to the Office of the Governor of South Carolina.
The law officially took effect September 1, 2025, but law enforcement observed a mandated 180-day grace period, issuing only warnings before full citation enforcement began February 28, 2026, per the Post and Courier. Drivers convicted under the act now face a $100 fine for a first offense, and a $200 fine plus two license points for repeat violations within three years, penalties that can drive up insurance costs or lead to suspension.
State figures show distracted or inattentive driving is listed as a primary contributing factor in more than 20,000 motor vehicle collisions across South Carolina every year, per the South Carolina Department of Public Safety. Even as that toll persists, the state recorded 946 roadway fatalities in 2025 — a 21 percent drop from 1,198 deaths in 2021 and the state's lowest annual total in over a decade, according to the AASHTO Journal, with officials crediting targeted enforcement and infrastructure upgrades for the decline.
The Upstate tells a more complicated story. Spartanburg County, where Dale Willenberg's crash occurred along Highway 221, led all South Carolina counties in overall traffic fatalities in 2025 with 73 recorded deaths, a toll Hoodline has previously reported continues to shape local traffic safety concerns for cyclists and other non-motorists.
Honoring the First Responders Who Stayed
Now Kelly Willenberg, a doctorate-educated oncology nurse and owner of the healthcare compliance firm Kelly Willenberg & Associates, is serving as the presenting sponsor of the 2026 Law Enforcement Appreciation Day, or LEAD Day, in Greenville County. Her firm specializes in healthcare research billing and clinical trial regulatory compliance, according to the Health Care Compliance Association.
LEAD Day began in 2015 when local advocate Seabrook Marchant bought breakfast for officers at Tommy's Ham House as a simple gesture of thanks. Over eleven years it grew into South Carolina's largest annual law enforcement appreciation event, eventually adapting into a drive-thru model to accommodate its growing turnout, according to the Greenville Journal.
This year's event, set for Friday at the Greenville Downtown Airport, will deliver breakfast, commemorative gifts, and “Valor Bags” to more than 650 officers representing nine municipal, county, and state law enforcement agencies operating across Greenville County, including local municipal police, the Greenville County Sheriff's Office, the South Carolina Highway Patrol, and SLED, per Who's On The Move. LEAD Day is exclusively for local law enforcement and first responders, though organizers say community members who cannot attend in person can still find ways to support the effort.
Willenberg wants first responders to feel noticed and appreciated, and for her the sponsorship is deeply personal: it is a continuation of the goals and bucket list she built with Dale, and a direct thank-you to the responders who stayed with him and held his hand until the end, according to FOX Carolina's reporting. Her advocacy for the hands-free law and her leadership behind LEAD Day now stand as two threads of the same effort — turning a devastating loss on Highway 221 into lasting support for the people trying to prevent the next one.
