Several years after her mother died, Marty Ragones joined the Parmenter Board of Trustees. She had been reflecting on her loss and came to a conclusion. “I felt there could have been better preparation—and more personal discussion—at the time,” Marty recalls. “Being on the Parmenter board would help me think about that, talk about it and help others when life gets hard.”

Bill reached out to Parmenter's Niki Pugach for help with his wife Sarah's end-of-life journey. Niki not only facilitated Sarah's hospice care, but also helped coordinate a special early graduation ceremony for Bill's and Sarah's son Nick, bringing joy to the family and alleviating Sarah's stress of potentially missing this momentous event.

Sam’s dad suffered a prolonged battle with mental illness before dying by suicide on Sam's fifth birthday. Sam struggled as his father was in and out of the home during hospitalizations. Parmenter’s grantee, Wildflower, is helping Sam rediscover life after loss through the gift of summer camp experiences and more.

Joy Fisher Williams’ partner of 20 years, Brent, and father to their two young sons, died unexpectedly and suddenly from a heart attack in November 2017. Brent loved to share his curious nature about all things, especially his interests in music, youth hockey, and science.

While there is no “normal” experience when living with cancer, Hannah continually works to ensure her children live their lives largely unaffected by their mother’s diagnosis. Hannah says, “[My kids] are the driving force in everything I do.”

My father died in the fall of my senior year of high school, in 2021. In the midst of the upcoming end of high school as well as celebrating my acceptance into my dream school, the magnitude of my father’s passing was somewhat lost on me.

Lucy was a true caregiver to her core and was happiest when she was with “her” children. Tending to the babies made her happy and allowed her to thrive through an incredibly challenging, experimental treatment protocol.

On his application to Wildflower, a Parmenter grantee organization, Tom wrote, “If I can muster up my courage (to raise these 3 girls alone), they will still have a chance at a great childhood.”