Harris, Adella
July 2009
Adella Harris has been many things to Mission Hospice over the years: volunteer nurse, board member, fundraiser, committee member and chair, and most recently, one of only two Honorary Lifetime Members of the board. But she says one of her most important roles is as a donor, which at one time was her main connection to Mission Hospice.
“It was the only way I knew how to stay kind of present,” she said. “Now I know the donor really is at the bedside. There would be no caregiving without the donors. I have a greater appreciation of that.”
Harris was a relatively new nurse working at Mills Hospital in San Mateo when she first heard about Mission Hospice from a newspaper article announcing its founding. “I had been reading about hospice work in my nursing studies so I was glad to hear San Mateo was going to get one,” sherecalled. She was so pleased about it that she mentioned it to a patient she was nursing. “She was terminally ill and she was going to be discharged, so I was talking to her about her plans for going home and asked if she’d consider Mission Hospice for care.”
The woman replied that she not only knew about Mission Hospice, but had founded it. The patient, of course, was Marguerite “Mac“ Nash, who co-founded Mission Hospice with Helen Lagen and who also was its first patient. “She thought it was funny and wonderful that I referred her to Mission Hospice and we shared some real laughs over this,” Harris said.
A few years later, in 1981, Harris joined Mission Hospice as a volunteer nurse. In those days – before the Medicare hospice benefit – all of the caregivers were volunteers. “In the early days, I focused a lot on the patients’ physical needs,” she recalled. “Part of my growth as a volunteer was that patients needed more than that from me. They wanted more listening and emotional support. Volunteering is a learning process, and each patient teaches you something of value.”
Harris gave up direct care volunteering to work with her husband, Dr. Jonathan Feinberg, and to raise their two daughters. When she “retired” from her husband’s office in 1996, she returned to Mission Hospice, where she was not only a direct-care volunteer, but started making fund-raising suggestions.
“We didn’t have a development staff,” she recalled. “The donor cards were in a shoebox. So, as often happens when you speak up, I was invited to be on the Board of Directors. Once I got on the board, I realized there were many opportunities to develop the donor program.”
She also helped organize some of the community forums that drew hundreds of people with topics such as mourning quilts and the healing powers of music. She completed six years (two terms) on the board in 2005 and was recognized with the first Lotus Award for outstanding support of Mission Hospice in 2006. More recently, she’s been named only the second Honorary Lifetime Member of the board with co-founder Helen Lagen.
“Now I have the emeritus role, which I enjoy very much,” she said. “Mission Hospice is in full bloom and I’m thrilled to see the progress, the enthusiasm and the confidence the community is showing in the work. I feel very encouraged and positive about the expanded care to patients offered through the Transitions and the new Advanced Care programs. They really enhance what we can do for the patients and their families.”
Lagen, Helen
Gracious, compassionate, and tenacious, Helen Lagen was an expert at bringing people together. Throughout her life, she wove a tapestry that connected her family, her church, and her friends and colleagues. These connections supported her throughout her life. They also helped with the founding of San Mateo County’s first hospice program, one that ultimately provided care for Helen in her final years.
In 1934, when Helen was just 19 and a voracious reader working in a bookstore in San Francisco, she married John Lagen, a young physician. As he began his medical career at UCSF, they started their family in Burlingame with their first two children Nancy and John (youngest son Michael later joined the family).
John was a member of the Army Reserve, and soon the war took him away from home for extended periods – almost six years – as he served in the Medical Corps, including heading up field hospitals throughout Europe – efforts that earned him a Bronze star for meritorious service.
During this time as a single mother, Helen bonded with other mothers who were also flying solo during wartime, socializing, sharing childcare responsibilities, and otherwise supporting each other. The young family was finally reunited in 1946, and Helen and John delighted in spending time with each other, their beloved children, and the gardens about which they were both passionate.
Once all of their children had started school, John encouraged his wife to become more involved in the community – and Helen dove in headfirst. She served as a member and then president of the board of the Women’s Auxiliary to the San Mateo County Medical Society, president of the county Community Council of Social Agencies, and chairman of the Northern California Unit of Recording for the Blind. Deeply spiritual, she was also devoted to the congregation at St. Paul’s Episcopal Church in Burlingame.
In 1978, Helen joined a group of women who watched over a long-time friend, Bernice Gray (a nurse at Mills Hospital), as she died of cancer. Many of these women were nurses themselves, or wives of doctors, and together they learned first-hand the importance of companionship, advocacy, and pain relief at the end of life. Helen later wrote, “Bernice had taught us so much about the needs of a patient living through the last days of life.”
Hospice care was a relatively new concept in the U.S. at the time. Warren Dale, the chaplain at Mills , introduced Helen to Mac Nash – a cancer patient who had herself been thinking about hospice care – and the two immediately joined in purpose.
With help from many others, the partnership led to the founding of Mission Hospice in 1979.
Looking to the Hospice of Marin as a model, Helen was undeterred by the challenge of creating the first nonprofit hospice in San Mateo County. “How could we honor our friend’s memory better than by putting into practice her loving advice?” she wrote.
For the first three years of the organization, Helen served as the President of the Board, something she considered “a privilege.” Carol Gray, one of the first volunteer nurses and later the organization’s long-time Executive Director, said,
“Helen was the perfect person to lead this organization. She was tenacious and bold, yet reserved and proper. The community respected her tremendously. She was a great model for us all.”
Helen was quick to credit her husband for his medical counsel in the founding of the organization, calling him “an inestimable help.” With his counsel, the group created a Medical Advisory Committee led by the recently-retired Pierre Salmon, M.D. John Lagen himself retired from the UCSF School of Medicine in 1971, a respected researcher, teacher, and clinic director.
Helen remained active with Mission Hospice into her early 90s. She delighted in seeing the organization grow during her lifetime to serve ever more patients and families, creating a ripple effect within the community she so loved. Helen called the founding of Mission Hospice her “most rewarding accomplishment.” Poised and modest, she relished sharing the story of the organization’s history, something she did for years at the group’s volunteer trainings. It was a story that everyone loved to hear from the radiant elder spokeswoman with the twinkly eyes.
Appropriately enough, this same network rallied to Helen’s side in the final months of her life. At 101 years of age, her formerly busy life had contracted significantly, but she always welcomed her Mission Hospice team (including Medical Director Dr. Gary Pasternak, Nurses Susan Freyberg and Heidi Keng, Social Worker Roby Newman, and Volunteer Craig Schroeder) to her home. This group made a special effort to take her outside to her garden, where she could enjoy the sunshine and nature she so loved – efforts that really improved Helen’s quality of life in her final months.
Knowing of Helen’s love of books and poetry, Roby frequently read to her, sharing poems that they both found meaningful. Tennyson’s “Crossing the Bar” was one of her favorites:
Crossing the Bar
– Alfred, Lord Tennyson
Sunset and evening star,
And one clear call for me!
And may there be no moaning of the bar,
When I put out to sea,
But such a tide as moving seems asleep,
Too full for sound and foam,
When that which drew from out the boundless deep
Turns again home.
Twilight and evening bell,
And after that the dark!
And may there be no sadness of farewell,
When I embark;
For tho’ from out our bourne of Time and Place
The flood may bear me far,
I hope to see my Pilot face to face
When I have crost the bar.
As Helen’s very full life came to its end, she was surrounded by the network she had created so many years before. “I had such admiration for her, for what she and others had started,” said Roby. “It was a privilege to know her, and to carry on this tradition of care for our community.”
Young, Sheila
May 2010
Sheila Young still practices law from time to time, but says her real profession these days is being a grandmother to her two grandchildren and serving as chair of the Mission Hospice Board of Directors. Young began her position as chair in January after serving on the board for the past four years.
“My goal is to help the organization build on its recent growth and success, and provide a higher level of patient care through new services like the Advanced Care Program,” she said during a recent interview. “While we expand to serve more patients, it’s important for us to maintain the unique feel of a small, quality boutique hospice.”
She’s excited about the upcoming launch of the Advanced Care Program, which will provide skilled nursing, medical and rehabilitation services for patients who have serious illnesses but are not yet ready or eligible for hospice care. The Advanced Care Program will complement the Transitions Program, which provides pre-hospice patients with social and volunteer support.
“Together with our proven hospice program, the Advanced Care and Transitions programs allow us to serve patients at every stage of a life limiting illness,” she explained. “We can now provide a continuum of care that extends for the duration of a patient’s chronic healthcare needs.” Mission Hospice expects to begin the pilot phase of the Advanced Care Program early this summer.
Young was recruited to the board by Mary Chigos, a close friend and immediate past board chair. Over the years, she’s valued both the opportunity to “give back” to the community, and the fun times spent with other board members, volunteers, the Auxiliary and the Mission Hospice staff.
“There’s something very rewarding about working with this amazing group of people,” she said. “They all bring different ideas and knowledge to the table to help the organization grow. They all have so much to give.”
Teutschel, Michael
July 2014
Commitment to community
Quick, eloquent, and modest, Mike Teutschel makes it immediately clear that he is fiercely dedicated to the community in which he was born, raised, and spent his entire career. As Mike says, he’s “the guy who was born in Oakland, grew up in San Francisco and moved all the way to Redwood City.” Today, Mike lives there with his wife Rebecca, with whom he runs a Palo Alto-based full-service accounting firm that they recently spun off from a 400-person, 50-partner firm.
But Mike remains loyal to his hometown, rooting for the Raiders and the A’s – something he admits can be “challenging” on the Peninsula. He’s also dedicated to his family, making a priority of spending time with his two daughters, two step-daughters, and grandson.
His leadership for Mission Hospice goes back more than a decade, when the organization was in a period of transition and approached the firm where he was working, seeking someone with financial expertise to serve as a volunteer board member. Mike stepped up, and has been involved with the group ever since, including serving as board chair.
He was already well-versed in community service. Mike’s worked with nonprofits for decades, served three terms as an elected school board member in San Carlos, and also volunteered as a youth sports coach. He is also an active member of Palo Alto University Rotary, focusing on recruiting new members, supporting the group’s community service leadership, and raising funds for projects including the international effort to end polio.
Mike’s particularly happy to be involved with the board at Mission Hospice, where he says, “everyone can put forth different opinions and they are all respected. There is a lot of mutual respect for each other and for the organization.”
He’s particularly proud that the nonprofit is now on solid financial footing, and continues to receive accolades from patients and families, as well as from various review boards. “It feels good to be part of something that works, and that is growing,” he says.
Mike also recognizes that there is more to be done in the area of public education about hospice. Recently, he lost a close friend who was reluctant to accept hospice care at the end of his life. Mike could see that a hospice team could have helped his friend manage his pain better, and would have benefitted his relationships as well as his business.
“It really is about life,” he says. “We just need to let people know that entering hospice is not giving up.”
Chigos, Mary
Summer 2012
Connecting the community
“We are here to care for you” is the core message Mary Chigos takes to potential patients and their families.
“Mission Hospice & Home Care has three key programs supporting patients in the last year of life: Hospice, Advanced Care, and Transitions. The name of the program you’re in isn’t important,” said Chigos, the agency’s director of clinical outreach. “The important thing is that you get the care that’s appropriate for you and your loved ones.”
Chigos, a long-time Mission Hospice Board of Directors member and former board president, took over the position in August 2011 to increase communication with local health care institutions and physician offices.
It’s a territory well known to Chigos, a former nurse practitioner whose late husband, Andy, was a Peninsula obstetrician-gynecologist. The couple met when he visited an innovative women’s health program in Southern California where she was practicing.
Born in Kansas City, she moved to California in 1968. After marrying, Chigos became a fixture in the community, serving on the Hillsborough Board of Education and on the board of the auxiliary of Community Gatepath, a program for developmentally disabled children and adults. She and Andy had five children in addition to his four daughters. Chigos has 14 grandchildren and five great-grandchildren.
She joined the Mission Hospice board in 2002 at the invitation of former board member Elaine Cohen, although she didn’t know that much about Mission Hospice at the time.
“My mom died of lung cancer when I was 25,” she said. “The more I learned later on, the more I lamented that we hadn’t had the opportunity for hospice. I think it would have made a huge difference for our family.”
She’s also chaired the development committee since joining the board and is grateful for the continued support of the local community.
“Any time you’re raising money, it’s a challenge,” she said. “The struggle for the donated dollar is very difficult because there are so many competing needs. We have to educate the public that even though Medicare and insurance include hospice care, the benefit doesn’t cover everything.”
For the past two years, Chigos also has been very involved in developing a hospice house for patients whose end-of-life comfort and care cannot be managed in their own homes. For her, the hospice house would fulfill the dream to provide a complete continuum of care for patients.
“I tell people, this is not about death,” she said. “The compassionate, dignified care Mission Hospice provides honors the patient’s life and supports them through their journey. Our motto has long been ‘It’s about life’.”
Weller, Dr. Stephen
February 2012
Dr. Stephen Weller, a long-time Mission Hospice & Home Care advocate and one of the original medical advisers helping set up the fledgling
organization, is the recipient of this year’s Lotus Award for outstanding support of Mission Hospice. Weller, a radiation oncologist, received the award during the 33rd anniversary celebration Jan. 15 at the Peninsula Golf & Country Club. The Mission Hospice Auxiliary also received a special recognition award.
“Dr. Weller was a unanimous choice for the award,” said Lotus Award committee chair Kate Breaux. “He was there at the beginning with Dr. Pierre Salmon (Mission Hospice’s first medical director) and founders Marguerite “Mac” Nash and Helen Lagen. Since then, he’s continued to support us by referring patients, giving financial support and attending our events.
“It’s hard to single out any one person for this honor, but each year, one name always seems to rise above the others and this year it was Dr. Weller. He’s not only an amazing and compassionate doctor, but he’s also straighttalking.”
Weller recalls that back when Nash was one of his cancer patients, he wasn’t knowledgeable about hospice care.
“At that time, I was focused on curing cancer,” he said during a recent interview. “I didn’t ignore the fact that people were dying, but it made more sense to me to turn them over to their primary physicians. Today, I’m responsible for sending patients for hospice services, and I often follow up with home visits.”
Weller said there are no hard and fast rules for determining when it’s time to stop trying to cure an illness and instead concentrate on controlling symptoms.
“Physicians try to critique one another,” he said. “I may feel a colleague stopped aggressive therapies too soon, or that he carried on too long with treatment. I believe you shouldn’t use potentially toxic treatments for cancer up to the moment of death, but we end up doing that all too often. We must weigh potential benefits of the treatment with the negative side effects. I try to tell people what I would wish done if I or someone from my family was sitting in the patient’s chair.”
Weller said that although the concept of hospice services and palliative care has taken hold over the past 30 years, it’s still a “hard sell” for some doctors.
“Many physicians find it difficult to talk about hospice with patients because the patient or family think it’s a death sentence; that you’re giving up on them,” he said. “!ere’s a point where you say we’re going to stop trying to cure you and pay attention to making every day comfortable.”
Over the years, Weller has continued to support Mission Hospice in addition to raising funds for the Dorothy Schneider Cancer Center at Mills Hospital in San Mateo. A graduate of the University of Minnesota Medical School, he did his residency and a fellowship at Stanford Hospital before joining what is now the Western Radiation Oncology practice in San Mateo in 1975.
DiPaolo, Judy
Judy DiPaolo to receive 2023 Lotus Award at anniversary celebration
Winter 2023
We are thrilled to present volunteer leader and board member Judy DiPaolo with the 2023 Mission Hospice Lotus Award at our 44th anniversary celebration on Sunday, January 29. Since 2005, this annual award has been given to an individual who has shown outstanding support of the organization. After several years of hiatus for both the celebration and award due to COVID, we will finally gather in person again at the Peninsula Golf & Country Club in San Mateo.
The decision of the Lotus Award Committee to honor Judy was unanimous. Judy’s career involved leading large HR teams for both Mills-Peninsula Health Services and the Peninsula Coastal Region of Sutter Health.
As a board member for nearly two decades, she has graciously shared her HR and healthcare expertise to help guide our organization.
Lotus Award Committee member and former board member Mary Chigos says, “Every CEO that Judy has worked with considered her invaluable. She is the go-to person for management questions and decisions regarding Human Resources. Everyone looks to her for history, vision, and direction.”
In her years of volunteering with Mission Hospice, Judy served as Board Chair for three years, chaired the board’s HR Committee, and participated on many other committees. Currently she is the Board Secretary and also serves on the Quality and Compliance Committee.
Former board chair Steven Weller, also a member of the Lotus Committee, says, “Judy is a terrific leader. When she makes up her mind based on evidence and thought, she’s calm but very firm in her decisions – she carries forward with conviction.”
“In addition to being one of the nicest people we all know, she’s been so generous over the years to Mission Hospice,” says Steve. “She is always willing to take on duties and tasks. She never says no. She first says yes to her family, and then second, yes to Mission Hospice.”
Mary agrees. “Judy is a one-of-a-kind person – bright, giving, loving, and dedicated, all while being quietly humble.”
True to form, Judy’s response to learning that she was to receive the award was to share the honor with the entire team.
“I am tremendously honored to be recognized,” says Judy, “but the award really goes to everyone at Mission Hospice. At a small nonprofit like ours, it takes a talented, dedicated group of staff, volunteers, the Auxiliary, and the board working together as a team.”
“To me, this award is a tremendous thank you to everyone who collaborates to make it work. We have really wonderful, dedicated people at Mission Hospice who give of themselves generously. It’s so rewarding knowing that we make a difference in the community.”
Tickets for the anniversary celebration on January 29, 2023 are available here.
Professional expertise and a passion for health care
Summer 2013
Two themes have run through Judy DiPaolo’s professional and volunteer life: health care and human resources. For 25 years, Judy has worked as a human resources (HR) leader for Mills-Peninsula Health Services and the Peninsula Coastal Region of Sutter Health, where she managed a team of professionals in support of 7000 employees.
Her roots in health care run deep. After graduating from UC Berkeley with a degree in medical social work and completing graduate school, she headed to West Africa as a Peace Corps volunteer, where she established and ran baby clinics in Burkina Faso for two and a half years.
Following her return to the states, Judy jumped on an opportunity to become a human resources professional. She says she loves the fast pace. “It is never boring – new issues come up every day.” She also finds it a great opportunity to exercise both the analytical and the people-oriented sides of her brain.
The combination of her full-time career, raising a family, and volunteer activities such as PTA kept Judy more than busy for many years. After her sons left for college, she was ready for a new kind of community service. She was asked to join the Mission Hospice Board of Directors in 2004, and immediately found it was a good fit, explaining that “hospice care is something that is near and dear to my heart.”
Not surprisingly, Judy chairs our board’s HR committee; she also serves on the Executive Committee. Recently she was elected Secretary, and she now serves on the Palliative Care Committee as well.
Her broad understanding of health care issues in general – and of the specific staffing and accreditation issues facing medical organizations – has been invaluable to Mission Hospice. As the organization has grown, Judy’s expertise and guidance has been key to ensuring that we can do that in a meaningful and responsible way – and that our staff is ready to support that growth.
Outside of the board room, Judy advises Mission Hospice CEO Dwight Wilson on Human Resources issues. She’s just now completing a months-long project: an employee satisfaction survey. By meeting and interviewing teams of Mission Hospice employees across the organization, Judy was able to provide valuable feedback to leaders to help them grow and strengthen their teams.
Her calm professionalism is matched by her generosity and enthusiasm for serving the community. “Everyone wants to feel, at the end of the day, that they’re making a difference,” Judy said. “I love working for an organization that puts the patient first. It’s all about the care for the patient and the service that can be provided. It’s gratifying that my background and experience are of value in helping the organization continue to grow and succeed. I’m very proud of what we’ve been able to accomplish at Mission Hospice.”
Mission Hospice Auxiliary Cinco de Mayo Bridge Day & Luncheon
May 5, 2017 • 9:00am
Crowne Plaza, Foster City
Join the Mission Hospice Auxiliary for its Cinco de Mayo Bridge Day & Luncheon. $65 entry fee benefits Mission Hospice; $60 if you reserve your seat by April 5.
38th Anniversary Celebration
Sharon Heights Golf & Country Club, Menlo Park
January 29, 2017 • 4-7pm
Come celebrate 38 years of service to the local community, and honor our 2017 Lotus Award winner Michael Teutschel and Special Recognition Award winner Dr. Gary Pasternak. $75/person; RSVP by Jan. 20. For tickets and more information, call 650.554.1000.
New Volunteer Training Sessions
Mission Hospice office, San Mateo
Saturdays, June 17 & 24, July 8 & 15, 2017 (9:30am–3pm) and Thursdays, July 6 & 13, 2017 (6–8pm)
These training sessions will prepare you for being a Direct Care volunteer for our patients.
To apply and register, contact Volunteer Services Co-Director Craig Schroeder at 650.532.2323 or by email.