Leadership
Executive Committee
CHAIR
Merryn Jolkovsky, MD
Palliative Care Physician, CentraCare Health
Member since 2015
“It finally occurred to me to ask ‘what’s wrong with the care we’re giving [patients] that they’re not happy?’ I started focusing on the end of life issues then…”
–Merryn Jolkovsky
VICE CHAIR
Mary Ellen Wells
U of M Schools of Public Health
Member since 2017
“My core purpose is healing…it’s about people healing…that, combined with a lifelong commitment to giving, led me to the organization.”
–Mary Ellen Wells
TREASURER
Joy Hornung
Public Accounting—Operations Manager, Clifton Larson Allen
Member since 2016
“As a parent of grown children, I would hate for them to have to guess what I want…so I think having the Advance Care Plan is very important for all ages.”
–Joy Hornung
SECRETARY
Patricia Bresser
St. Cloud State University
Faculty Emerita
Member since 2015
“I think Advanced Care Planning is one of the critical issues for twenty-first century health care, and there are a lot of critical issues for twenty-first century health care.”
–Patricia Bresser
Staff
EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR
Lynn MacKenzie
“I had to make some very difficult decisions on behalf of my husband…but I could make those decisions with a clear conscience because we had talked about it and I knew what his wishes were.”
–Lynn MacKenzie
Board Members
BOARD MEMBER
Deborah Laxson
Founder, Heath Care Agent
Member since 2018
“The Health Care Directive really becomes the anchor on how to make the best decisions for our loved ones.”
–Deborah Laxson
BOARD MEMBER
Bret Reuter
Director of Mission and Spiritual Care, St. Cloud Hospital (CentraCare), St. Benedicts Senior Community
Member since 2018
“I see this as an opportunity to make people’s lives better at every juncture so that when we do come to that final end, we’ll have the best experience we can have when transitioning.”
–Bret Reuter
BOARD MEMBER
Michelle Jaskolka
Palliative Care Coordinator, CentraCare Health
Member since 2017
“Anyone who is not familiar with what Advance Care Planning is or what Light the Legacy does really just needs to know that they have the power to ask the questions…everybody has a voice…it’s all about putting yourself in the driver’s seat of your own care.”
–Michelle Jaskolka
BOARD MEMBER
Chad Roggeman
Attorney, Rajkowski Hansmeier, Ltd.
Member since 2017
“In the 1980s a legal mechanism was enacted to give people options…before that happened, a lot of families were caught in a bind wondering ‘what did dad want? ‘what did mom want?’ Now we can find out what mom or dad want in a way that is really useful and legally binding.”
–Chad Roggeman
BOARD MEMBER
Jolene Klocker Schley
Attorney, Quinlivan & Hughes, P.A.
Member since 2017
“I practice estate planning so becoming a Light the Legacy board member was a pretty easy answer for me considering I help people with end-of-life decisions every day.”
–Jolene Klocker Schley
BOARD MEMBER
Nola Varilek
Community Outreach, CentraCare HomeCare & Hospice
Member since 2017
“I really became interested in end-of-life issues when my own father had a catastrophic stroke. My parents thought they had everything laid out…in reality the living will they had completed really didn’t tell us anything…even nine years later, we still question ourselves if we made the right decisions.”
–Nola Varilek
BOARD MEMBER
Catherine “Cate” Anderson
Hospice Palliative Care Coordinator, St. Cloud VA HCS
Member since 2017
–Catherine “Cate” Anderson
Ex-Officio Board Members
ASSISTANT SECRETARY & PAST BOARD CHAIR
Vicki Morgan
Professionally Retired
Member since 2015
“I’ve been with families who have dealt with death as part of the reality of life…and it has been such a smoother and more beautiful transition.”
–Vicki Morgan
