Staff and Teachers
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Merilynne Rush, MSHP, BSN
Ann Arbor, Michigan Founder, Teacher, Mentor I love teaching. In addition to being a midwife, I have been a hospice nurse, a companion caregiver, natural after death care (home funeral) educator, and health-care volunteer in Nicaragua. My work is also informed by extended stays in India and a month in Ivory Coast. It has been an extreme honor to work with numerous birthing and death-ing families. I have an MS in Hospice and Palliative Studies and a Nurse Educator Certificate from Madonna University, a BS in Nursing from the University of Michigan, and a BA in Humanities and Women's Studies from Michigan State University. I am a Certified Respecting Choices® First Steps Advance Care Planning Instructor. In service to nonprofit organizations, I was president of the National End-of-life Doula Alliance (NEDA) from its founding in 2018 to October, 2020, am a founding member of the NHPCO End-of-life Doula Council, and served on the board of directors of the Green Burial Council, the National Home Funeral Alliance, Michigan Doula Connection, and the Washtenaw Health Initiative Advance Care Planning Committee. I received my SageUSA "Caring for LGBT Older Adults" endorsement in 2020. Se habla Espanol. I hope to hear from you! |
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Star Fallin
Milwaukee, Wisconsin Teacher, Mentor, & Team Member Star, the mother of 7, lives in Milwaukee. A wannabe photographer, drummer, writer, and consummate, hyperactive “oddball,” she has been part of the death industry for 12 years as an autopsy technician, disaster site clean-up specialist, end-of-life planning guide, zoomeral facilitator, search and recovery diver, EOLD, and memento-mori artist. While she continues to work off and on as a home birth midwife, EOLD work is what she is most passionate about, teaching her community to welcome death and dying into mainstream conversation and celebrate departures in ways that create peace for those crossing the veil, and offer comfort, compassion and love for those who remain. “I would that every one of us are prepared for and unafraid of death, which, in turn, offers the space to create beautiful lives in the present.” Services: EOL Doula, perinatal loss, sudden death support Contact: [email protected] |
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Olivia Hunter
Atlanta, Georgia Teacher, Mentor, & Team Member Olivia Hunter is a student of the mystical and metaphysical. She is a Reiki Master and ordained minister serving a multi-denomination church in Washington, D.C. Recently retired from 30 years as a Human Resources professional, she currently consults with small businesses in the WDC-metro area. Introduced to the Death Positive movement while volunteering for hospice, Rev. Olivia is pursuing a next chapter career as both a life- and an end-of-life doula. By applying her professional and ministerial expertise, she seeks to serve those entering any type of transition with listening, coaching, counseling, companionship and ritual. Services: EOL Doula, EOLD Mentoring, Group Facilitation Contact: [email protected] |
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Lisa Conine
Mount Shasta, CA Facilitator, Mentor, & Team Member Lisa has been involved in heart-centered service and advocacy since 2010. She studied social work and family systems and is passionate about community-based care. In earlier years, she worked on campaigns advocating for environmental justice and drug policy reform. Lisa is now a yoga instructor and serves as an end-of-life doula by weaving in the wisdom of plants, movement, and story medicine. She supports folks by providing spaces to explore death, transition, and loss by honoring transitions as sacred gateways into the innate wisdom of our bodies, our hearts, and our humanness. Services: EOL Doula, Yoga Instructor, Grief Support, Plant Medicine Guidance Contact: [email protected] Join her newsletter here. Learn more about her services here. |
Christina Wall
Ann Arbor, MI
Teacher
Christina Wall is an educator at The Dying Year and an active end-of-life doula living and working in Ann Arbor, Michigan. She mentors other EOL doulas, has volunteered for hospice, and has extensive personal experience caring for family members who have transitioned. Christina completed her EOLD and ACP training with Merilynne Rush in 2019 and since that time has helped numerous clients, specializing in working with adult children who are caregivers, those caring for loved ones living with dementia, and solo agers (those with very limited support systems).
Christina lives with her husband, daughter, and identical twin sons. She worked in the aviation industry in a previous life. When she isn’t engaging in doula work or taking care of her kids, she enjoys writing, traveling, walking in the woods, cooking, and playing the piano.
Services: EOL Doula, Teacher, Mentor
Contact: [email protected]
Ann Arbor, MI
Teacher
Christina Wall is an educator at The Dying Year and an active end-of-life doula living and working in Ann Arbor, Michigan. She mentors other EOL doulas, has volunteered for hospice, and has extensive personal experience caring for family members who have transitioned. Christina completed her EOLD and ACP training with Merilynne Rush in 2019 and since that time has helped numerous clients, specializing in working with adult children who are caregivers, those caring for loved ones living with dementia, and solo agers (those with very limited support systems).
Christina lives with her husband, daughter, and identical twin sons. She worked in the aviation industry in a previous life. When she isn’t engaging in doula work or taking care of her kids, she enjoys writing, traveling, walking in the woods, cooking, and playing the piano.
Services: EOL Doula, Teacher, Mentor
Contact: [email protected]
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Grey Allen
Ann Arbor, MI Teacher Grey Allen (he/him) is passionate about sharing information and resources to help others make informed decisions about their life's journey. He has felt called to help others navigate the challenges of death and dying from an early age after experiencing many sudden and traumatic losses. He became an end-of-life doula after training through The Dying Year in 2024. He is especially passionate about helping others in the queer community find the resources and support they need. He facilitates a Queer Death Cafe each month and is the secretary for Evergreen End of Life Care Foundation of Michigan. In his free time, he enjoys reading, going to concerts and spending time with his fur baby, Fluff. Contact: [email protected] |
