DonateOhio End of Life Options was founded by Lisa Vigil Schattinger in 2016. Soon after, she met Molly McMahon Graziano at a speaking event and they’ve been moving forward ever since. Their work and passion for this issue have brought along many more supporters and volunteers, including the Board of Directors listed below, and the members of the Policy Committee.
You can never have too many volunteers! If you want to help in our mission, please Contact Us or complete this brief Volunteer Survey.
Board of Directors:
- Muffy Kaesberg, Board Chairperson, retired owner of Organizing 4 U, LLC, Community Volunteer
- Amy Foti, JD, Board Secretary, Community Volunteer
- Kimberly Barton, Board Treasurer, Community Volunteer
- Alex Keller-Biehl, CPA, Community Volunteer – Read Alex’s story
- Vikki Miller, Community Volunteer – Read Vikki’s story
- Maryjo Prince-Paul, PhD RN FPCN, formerly Associate Professor, Frances Payne Bolton School of Nursing, Palliative and End of Life Care
– Read Maryjo’s statement – Maryjo leads the Health Care Advisory Committee. - Ann Rowland, JD, retired Assistant U.S. Attorney – Read Ann’s story – Ann leads the Policy Advisory Committee.
- Doug Schattinger, MBA, President/CEO, Pioneer Manufacturing
- Wendy Shugarman, Community Volunteer
- Susan Spinell, Ex-Officio
- Roger Peckinpaugh, JD, Ex-Officio
Lisa Vigil Schattinger, MSN, RN, Volunteer Executive Director
Lisa founded Ohio End of Life Options in 2015. The year before, Lisa was with her stepfather, Dr. Jack Rowe, when he died after using Oregon’s Death with Dignity Act. His death was peaceful and exactly as he had wished. A few months earlier, Jack had been diagnosed with cancer and told he had a few months to live. He enrolled in hospice and communicated openly and honestly with family and friends about his diagnosis. Before he died, he shared his thoughts on the Death with Dignity law in the Journal of the American Medical Association. His family was thankful to be able to surround him with love as he died at home. The experience was profound for Lisa and her family.
After returning home to Cleveland, Lisa shared her family’s experience locally and nationally. It has resonated with many. In 2016, she joined the board of Death with Dignity National Center.
Lisa grew up and went to college in Oregon. After graduating, she worked as a medical assistant in an internist’s office in Eugene. Her mother Jan Rowe was a nurse and they talked about medical issues a lot. They discussed physician-assisted death before it was voted on in 1994. At the time, Lisa’s aunt was being treated for breast cancer, from which she died in 1995. Her aunt was under hospice care but was without the option of medical aid in dying.
Lisa had other experiences with death among friends and family. She found that the concept of quality of life, for those at the end of life, is intensely personal and important. She began working toward a law giving terminally ill Ohioans access to all of their end-of-life options.
Molly McMahon Graziano, Director of Education and Outreach
Molly began her deep dive into end-of-life experiences both personally and professionally, in 1999. She was a caregiver for her mother, father, and aunt at the end of their lives and worked for the organ donation organization, Lifebanc. She brings over 20 years of experience in nonprofit organizations to her work at Ohio End of Life Options. Read Molly’s story
Molly has journeyed with many at end of life and witnessed good death, painful death, sudden death, and terminal illness. She learned lessons from all of her experiences and considered her own mortality and the options she wants available for her.
Molly is a strong supporter of reputable hospice and palliative care programs and wishes more terminally ill patients were referred early to those programs. As an addition to end-of-life care, Molly believes that it is time for Ohio to pass medical aid in dying legislation.
