Save The Date For Our Upcoming End-Of-Life Seminars

End-of-life decisions can be difficult and overwhelming — there are so many questions to answer and decisions to be made. But a series of May seminars at our parishes can help you get the conversation started and get your plans in writing. So, be sure to save the date for the upcoming End-of-Life seminars:

• Tuesday, May 3 at 5:45 p.m. St. Andrew’s Parish Center, Granite Falls

• Thursday, May 5 at 6:15 p.m. St. Joseph’s Social Hall, Montevideo

• Wednesday, May 18 at 5:45 p.m. St. James Church Basement, Dawson

The seminars will be the same at each parish. Each seminar will be about two hours long and will begin with a presentation from Fr. Paul Timmerman on the Catholic teachings regarding various end-oflife moral issues. He will answer questions like:

• Must medical treatment always be continued?

• Are Catholics allowed to have living wills?

• What is the Church teaching about “death with dignity”?

• How do I make my Catholic healthcare directive?

“I hope that many parishioners come to these seminars so as to get the Catholic Church’s perspective on many common end-of-life issues,” Fr. Paul says.

Butch Byers with Catholic United Financial will present on wills, final expenses, power of attorney, trusts, healthcare directives, and more.

Gene and Helen Stukel attended an August 2019 End-of-Life Seminar at St. Andrew’s. Both appreciated that the workshop prompted them to address these topics and questions. They ended up getting together with Brian and John Tetzloff, also with Catholic United Financial. Over a series of in-person and video meetings, the couple updated their wills, prepaid funeral expenses, completed power-of-attorney paperwork, and made determinations on legacy gifts.

The End-of-Life Seminar gave them the extra push they needed. They would recommend that all parishioners consider these decisions and make sure that all the necessary documents are in place.

“We are relieved this is done,” Helen says. “We don’t want the burden to fall on our children when we pass away.”

“If you don’t have something in place, there are a lot of loose ends that fall into the laps of people who maybe don’t know your wishes,” Gene says. “You don’t want people to have to guess your wishes.”

Having been married for 50 years at the time of the seminar, it seemed like a good time to start thinking about the difficult end-of-life questions. For both Gene and Helen, it’s nice to have all of this work done. They appreciate that Brian and John were with them every step of the way — they spent a lot of time helping the Stukels with the paperwork and discussions.

“Some people don’t want to acknowledge that the end of their life will come,” Gene says. “It has to be talked about so your wishes can be followed through on.”

Parishioners are encouraged to make a plan to attend one of the End-of-Life seminars:

• Tuesday, May 3 at 5:45 p.m. at St. Andrew’s Parish Center, Granite Falls

• Thursday, May 5 at 6:15 p.m. at St. Joseph’s Social Hall, Montevideo

• Wednesday, May 18 at 5:45 p.m. at St. James Church Basement, Dawson

Gene and Helen Stukel found the End-of-Life Seminar in 2019 to be very helpful.