Learn about David Hollister, A Champion for Medical Aid in Dying

David started by writing a Letter to the Editor in The New York Times in August. Then he wrote a powerful guest column for The Columbus Dispatch which has had widespread reach, including being run by People.com and USA Today. Sadly, David died one day after his Dispatch column was published.

In a follow-up article in The Columbus Dispatch, Sophia Venezia interviewed David’s wife, Dana Hollister, and Lisa Vigil Schattinger, the founder of Ohio End of Life Options. ‘He fought to the end for his choice’: Ohio man remembered for push to change end-of-life care, September 12, 2025.

“He fought to the end just for his choice,” Dana Hollister said. “He really wanted that choice.”

Read David Hollister’s obituary.

“He nailed it. In a life of twists and turns, David found the girl of his dreams, mastered more than one profession, loved friends and family, thought deeply, contributed civically, and stared down ALS.”

Read the Letters to the Editor by Ohioans in support of MAID in the section below David’s article.

See David’s Impact through Social Media at the bottom of the page. His story has resonated across Ohio and the U.S.

To honor David’s request for a Medical Aid in Dying bill, please email your Ohio Senators and Representatives.

My life is ending. Other Ohioans deserve Medical Aid in Dying | OPINION

by David Hollister, Guest columnist
The Columbus Dispatch
September 2, 2025

David and Dana Hollister, provided by David Hollister.

David Hollister is a commercial real estate broker who lives in Chagrin Falls and supports Ohio End of Life Options.

As someone with advancing ALS, I reached an important personal decision upon my diagnosis: I wished to die peacefully on my terms.

It was a decision arrived at with the support of my wife. She didn’t want to see me suffer extended consequences of this cruel and always-fatal disease any more than I want to experience them.

Now, I am in hospice, and before I die, I write to make my case to Ohio lawmakers to change the law so other Ohioans may one day have the freedom I have been denied.

This is far from how I wanted to spend my final days

Because Ohio does not have a law authorizing medical aid in dying — which allows a terminally ill patient to request from their doctor a prescription that will cause them to die peacefully — It was my intent that when I reached the point of having less than six months to live, I would go to Vermont, which has a MAID law that does not require patients to live in the state to access it.

Unfortunately for me, Vermont’s law requires in-person administrative actions and my disease is now such that I can’t tolerate a short car ride, let alone more than one trip to Vermont.

I lived the best life I could with a fatal disease

To anyone who might wonder about my choice, I want to stress a few things: I have had excellent medical care.

I’ve tried to make the most of my remaining life since my diagnosis in 2022. Along with extensive travel with my wife while I was still able, I realized some long-held ambitions, like taking voice lessons and self-publishing an album of 11 songs plus 26 more online.

Two years ago, I co-chaired the 2023 Cleveland Walk to Defeat ALS fundraiser and got to throw the first pitch at a Guardians game on Lou Gehrig Night.

More recently, I’ve worked with an entrepreneur named Tom Meadows to help him raise awareness about little-known iPhone and iPad features that help people with disabilities communicate and function.

I am beyond pleased to relate that our efforts have recently borne fruit as Apple has announced that they are upgrading access to these capabilities, and the ALS association has finally agreed to incorporate it into their patient support model.

It is too late for me

End-of-life autonomy is not an option for me in Ohio. But I can use my remaining time and capacity to speak up for other Ohioans who will find themselves in situations like mine.

I strongly urge Ohio legislators to pass a medical aid in dying bill like those in effect in 10 other states and the District of Columbia.

MAID has existed in the U.S. for nearly 30 years, and in every jurisdiction, the terms are similar: It is available only to people diagnosed with a terminal illness, with death expected within six months, as confirmed by two doctors.

Patients must be of sound mind, must make the request themselves, and must be physically capable of independently ingesting the prescription.

Despite the claims of people who want to deny end-of-life autonomy to others, it has not led to abuse. Neither advanced age, dementia nor disability alone qualifies someone for MAID.

Three decades of precedent have yielded no documented instances of abuse or coercion.

I have been fortunate in life and I’m grateful for the wonderful support of family and friends, which has made my ALS journey easier.

My wife shouldn’t have to watch me suffer

I know that, as I have chosen to opt out of medical interventions, hospice care will guide my wife and other caregivers on how to ease my pain, labored breathing and physical and mental anguish as much as possible.

But here’s the thing: I don’t want to suffer needlessly, and I don’t want my wife and friends to witness any more of that suffering than they already have.

When my death approaches and when I decide my days are done, I would like the freedom and autonomy to die peacefully, in my home, at a time of my choosing and surrounded by those I love.

I don’t have that freedom, and neither will anyone else in Ohio until and unless we have a MAID law.

Please join me in asking our lawmakers to provide end-of-life options for the terminally ill. Do it for my peace of mind. And for those who will need it in the future.

The Dispatch piece may be read here.

Letters to the Editor in response to David's Opinion piece in The Columbus Dispatch:

Ohioans deserve end-of-life options

I just celebrated my 80th birthday. I have been blessed with a wonderful family and precious friends. I am a member of a faithful scripture-based church community. I have enjoyed relatively good health. I am independent and live alone in my own home.

All that being said, I know I am statistically in a group that could expect a serious health crisis at any moment. After reading the late David Hollister’s guest column in the Dispatch, I did some serious thinking about my future and how I would handle approaching death.

Because of my faith and my relationship with the Lord, I don’t believe I would choose medical aid in dying. However, I do believe David Hollister and anyone in his situation should have MAID as an option. I feel the Ohio legislature should enact the provisions Hollister proposed.

Madeline Crosby, Columbus
September 20, 2025

Toxins built up in my mom’s body

It took years to be able to think of my mom and not recall those horrible final days and hours of her passing from cancer. It is horrible enough to grieve the loss of someone you love, but to have to have that mixed with memories of them groaning, not knowing if they are in pain but unable to communicate that to you makes the memory so much worse.

I watched her have hallucinations of people wanting to hurt her because of the toxins building up in her system while we waited for the kidneys, or heart or liver to finally, ultimately fail.

How much more beautiful my memories could have been, holding and talking to my mom and saying a goodbye in her way and avoiding a likely painful end.

I plead to Ohio lawmakers to pass MAID (medical aid in dying) legislation. I want to know that if the same or similar fate awaits me due to a terminal illness, that my children would not have to suffer the same memories and that I could choose for myself to avoid a potentially painful end to my existence.

Amy Dommett, Beavercreek
September 22, 2025

I’ve seen a lot of death

Do you ever wonder how you will die? I think we all hope for a good death.

We might hope that it comes before we are too debilitated, that it is not too drawn out or too painful, with our minds still intact and our loved ones around us.

As a retired nurse, I’ve seen a lot of death, and as much as we try with our medical science to ease the way, some people go through a lot of anguish, both physical and mental, before the end. For some, their suffering is overwhelming, and they just want it to be over, sooner rather than later, and with some of their dignity intact.

That’s why I support Medical Assistance In Dying.

MAID is a process whereby those with limited life expectancy (usually six months or less) may obtain medicine to end their life. MAID is legal now in 11 states and the District of Columbia.

In the state of Washington, where I taught for seven years and where MAID has been legal since 2009, less than 1% of those who die each year choose MAID, but for those people, it is a means to achieve a peaceful and dignified death.

I urge Ohioans to support the legalization of MAID in our state.

William Lonneman, Cincinnati
September 14, 2025

Buckeyes should have the right to dignity

Regarding the late David Hollister’s well-written guest column calling for an end-of-life options law in Ohio: My high school classmate, Kelly Johnson, began performing acrobatics on stage at 6 years of age.Late in his life, the effects of all those acrobatics gave Johnson extreme pain. He decided to end that pain and his life when California passed its right-to-die law. Because he had spent his entire life on stage or behind the scenes, he chose to plan and record his final two days, including “the drink” closing his final curtain. San Francisco’s public TV station, KQED, filmed the event.I still Google “A Dance With Death: The Final Days of Kelly Johnson” to watch a 13-minute summary of his farewell party. Why can’t I have that same choice here in the Buckeye State?

Stanley Krider, Delaware
September 13, 2025

David Hollister inspired me

I was struck deeply by David Hollister’s Sept. 2 column in the Dispatch. How could anyone not be? For what logical reason could we refuse to support a medical aid in dying law for Ohio citizens?

I’m joining others in supporting Hollister’s efforts by writing my legislators and reaching out to my fellow citizens to encourage each of us to join in the support of efforts to give all Ohio citizens end-of-life options for terminal illness.

Julia Speakman, Lancaster
September 12, 2025

Dogs are spared pain and misery

Re “Ohio law is forcing my wife to watch me suffer in my final days,” Sept. 7: I support the late David Hollister’s position that we should allow individuals and their families to make their own end-of-life decisions.

I recently sat in a vet private waiting room as my daughter cradled her 17-year-old dachshund one last time before calling in the staff to release him from this life. She declined the medical intervention which might have prolonged his life a few more months.

No one accused her of murder or cruelty. He was ready. She was ready. He slipped away peacefully in her arms.

How sad it is that we’re allowed to release our

pets from unnecessary prolonged suffering, but we cannot do the same for the people we love or make that decision for ourselves.

Whether one believes in an existence beyond this life or not, all mortal beings die. Over the centuries, we’ve extended life expectancy by decades, but all life still ends.

Why can’t we accept that death is normal, natural and inevitable and quit forcing people to endure pain and misery while bankrupting families? For what reason?

I fear too often the honest answer may be simply because we can and someone is making a profit from it.

Kathryn M. Haueisen, Reynoldsburg
September 13, 2025

I want to die in peace

I am writing to ask the legislators in Ohio to pass a medical aid in dying (MAID) amendment to the Ohio Constitution.

I am an 86-year-old widowed and disabled female, living with constant, intractable pain. I want and I need a medical aid in dying option for my final days of life.

Most people will choose the option of quick, painless death for their beloved pets who are sick and dying. I cannot understand why such a choice should be denied to people who have been certified by two physicians to be at the end of life and in the sane mind that permits them to freely make that choice. What option would you want if it were your loved one struggling with death and dying?

Marilyn Jones, Cincinnati
September 16, 2025

David Hollister, Chagrin Falls, Ohio
Letter to the Editor
The New York Times, August 8, 2025

“I have rapidly advancing A.L.S. I’ve had a wonderful life, but I face a miserable death. As that time draws near, I want to be allowed the option to end my life in the peaceful manner allowed by medical aid in dying. Sadly, I live in a state that does not authorize it.“

Read the full letter.

David's Impact through Social Media

David’s story has resonated, with coverage through national media platforms. Please comment, like and share on the Facebook and Instagram posts about David opinion piece advocating for a MAID law in Ohio.