Program on End-of-Life Issues

A special one-day adult-education program on end-of-life issues, called “Living Life Well to the End,” is scheduled for Friday, June 12, at the Malpass Library Garden Lounge.

Western Illinois University (WIU) and McDonough District Hospital are co-hosting the series of presentations, developed through the Learning Is ForEver (LIFE) adult-education program, which will provide information and perspectives from medicine, law, elder care, and other fields. The topics will range from the practical to the philosophical-religious, as speakers from several professions deal with end-of-life health care choices, expense concerns, planning with wills and trusts, attitudes toward death, and other matters.

Among the speakers are some long-time community physicians, Drs. Donald Dexter, Richard Iverson, and Dennis Samuelson, as well as attorney Anthony Ashenhurst, WIU Philosophy and Religious Studies chairman John Simmons, WIU Dean of Libraries (and former health sciences librarian) Phyllis Self, and representatives of the McDonough District Hospital Hospice Team, including Dr. George Roodhouse and Marcia McGrew. 

Those who attend will receive a packet of helpful handouts and will also have the opportunity to ask questions and share their own perspectives. “Living Life Well to the End” is a kind of all-inclusive approach to issues and concerns that many people put off dealing with but everyone needs to know more about.

Lunch is included in the $15 registration fee, and the program runs from 8:30 a.m. to 3:45 p.m. WIU parking permits are provided to those who register, and because the university’s spring semester is over, there will be abundant parking spaces.

Several area residents have already registered, and other interested adults are invited to register by the June 8 deadline. Those interested can simply contact the LIFE registrar, Carolyn Bowman, at 298-2501, or at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .   

 -John Hallwas