Foundation for End Of Life Care - Committed to Making A Difference

Bruce Weyhrauch grew up in Lincoln, Nebraska.  He moved to Sitka  in1974 and first arrived in Juneau in 1976.   He obtained a BS degree in natural resource planning from California State Humboldt and a JD from Lewis and Clark Law School.  In 2001, the American Bar Association named Bruce 'Sole Practitioner of the Year.' He is a former president of Alaska Bar Association’s Board of Governors, twice president of the Juneau Bar Association, past Chair of Juneau Port Authority, Board President of the Juneau Economic Development Council,  and founded and is past president for 25 years of the Alaska Commercial Fishermen’s Memorial in Juneau.  Bruce served two terms in the Alaska State Legislature where  he focused on public health and facilities, and among other accomplishments,  authored Alaska’s Advanced Health Care Directive laws.  He is married to Luann, has three children, and is an Eagle Scout.

Seanna O’Sullivan, a lifelong Alaskan, former photojournalist, and current grant administrator for the SouthEast Alaska Regional Health Consortium (SEARHC), holds a B.A. in Print Journalism/ Spanish from the University of Montana and is a Certified Fundraising Professional. For two decades, she has volunteered her photography services for families facing pregnancy and newborn loss. After experiencing the support of home hospice during the end of her husband’s life in 2014, she wanted to join the board to ensure that services would be available options for others in Juneau. Seanna is raising three daughters: Mia, Tatum, and Lola, and three step-sons Charles, William and Henry.

Janett Hampton was raised in Las Vegas NV moving to Juneau in November 2019 working for Southeast Alaska Regional Health Consortium (SEARHC) as Assistant Director/Controller. She

holds an MBA from the University of Phoenix and has worked as a Controller for 30 years in

both hospital and clinic settings that have offered Home Health and Hospice service lines.

Janett believes hospice is a vital service that is underserved in Juneau. Janett has raised 3

children, twin daughters Stephanie and Stacey and her son Mason. She has 4 grandchildren

who are the light of her life. When not hanging out with family, Janett enjoys the outdoors in

Juneau, fishing, hiking, boating and cross-country skiing.

Carrie Pusich is a workplace consultant at Capital Office in Juneau. She has  35 years of experience as a supervisor, manager and director with extensive  leadership experience. Her professional  experience also includes work in  sales and marketing  throughout Southeast Alaska.  Carrie is a 48-year resident of Juneau. She is married to Mark Pusich, who was born and raised in Alaska. The couple has two grown children, Hailey and Jeffrey.  After experiencing hospice care for the end of her father's life in 1998, her mother, Sioux Douglas, became involved with hospice and was a founding member of the Foundation for End of Life Care.  Carrie said she is proud to carry on in her mother's footsteps to continue education for end of life care services in Alaska.

Jeffrey Short, a retired research chemist formerly with NOAA, is known for his work on oil pollution and other contaminant issues, particularly in the context of the Exxon Valdez oil spill. He served as the leading chemist for the natural resource damage assessment and restoration efforts related to the spill, conducting studies on the oil's distribution, persistence, and effects. His research led to the discovery of a more potent oil toxicity mechanism and the first fully quantitative assessments of oil remaining on beaches. He has authored over 60 scientific publications and contributed to several books. 

 Bob Urata was born and raised in Wrangell, Alaska and after college and training returned to Juneau and practiced Family Medicine at Valley Medical Care. He retired from in 2020 after a forty year career. He has served on Boards for Bartlett Regional Hospital (17 years) and Perseverance Theater (6 years). He served as Medical Director of Hospice and Homecare of Juneau for about 33 years. He currently enjoys retirement with his family, reading, the rare odd job (like substitute teaching), occasionally golfing here and there (better without rain) and skiing Eaglecrest.

 Kristin Jones is a mental health clinician at JAMHI Family & Health Services, where she conducts individual and family therapy with a specialty in adolescent counseling. She holds a Master's of Education in School Counseling from Northern Arizona University and has completed additional coursework in counseling through the University of Alaska Fairbanks.  Her professional background includes emergency psychiatric assessment at Bartlett Regional Hospital, high school counseling in Scottsdale, and specialized support for college students with significant learning challenges through the NorthBridge nonprofit. Kristin is a Juneau native who graduated from Juneau-Douglas High School and returned to raise her family. She  is committed to serving her community and ensuring that all individuals, regardless of ability or circumstance, receive dignified and empathetic care.

 Roman J. Motyka has lived in Alaska since 1973 and been a Juneau resident since 1984. He retired as a research professor, Geophysical Institute at the University of Alaska Fairbanks and serves as a Professor Emeritus Geology and Geophysics at the University of Alaska Southeast. He has served as a board member of SEALTrust, The Juneau Lyric Opera, the Juneau Nordic Ski Club and as a council member and progrm instructor of the Juneau Shambhala Meditation Center. He has also served as a volunteer for Hospice and Home Care of Juneau for more than 12 years and as a regular volunteer for Juneau Jazz and Classics and the Juneau Symphony. He is a passionate advocate for end-of-life care. 

Angela Davis currently serves as Chief Financial Officer at Bartlett Regional Hospital. She  is an accomplished finance executive with more than 28 years of experience in accounting, financial planning, and executive leadership across industries ranging from defense and public accounting to Fortune 500 companies. In her current position she is responsible for financial strategy, operational stability, and long-term sustainability in support of patient-centered care at Bartlett. Beyond her professional work, Angela is deeply committed to community service and volunteerism. She has served in leadership and advisory roles supporting rural health initiatives, financial education, youth sports, and women’s professional development. 

Angela holds an MBA in International Business. She is honored to contribute her expertise to the Foundation for End of Life Care, supporting its mission to advance compassionate, dignified care for individuals and families.

Born and raised in Pinedale, Wyoming (a small town with the distinction of being located 70 miles south of Jackson Hole in the least populated county in the least populated state) Laura Kelly developed a passion for outdoor living and small communities. After completing her studies at Smith College, and later an engineering degree at the University of Utah, she pursued a career in civil engineering, serving as a supervisory engineer for both the US Coast Guard (USCG) and US Forest Service (USFS). She first became an Alaska resident in 1999, where she worked as a facilities engineer at USCG Base Kodiak until 2014, when she relocated to Juneau to oversee maintenance of USCG assets across the state, and later design/construct new cabins for the USFS.  She chose Kodiak and Juneau as her home because she understands and values how isolated communities compel neighbors to be more closely connected. Having recently retired (and losing both parents – one to cancer and one to dementia) she welcomes the opportunity to direct her attention towards improving the wellbeing of those in her local community.  Both her parents (and their survivors) benefited from hospice and homecare during the final months of their lives, which eased the transition that can simultaneously be difficult and serene. Laura hopes to help others access these services as a member of Foundation for End of Life Care.

Dr. W. Murray Buttner grew up on the East Coast, where he went to college (Yale) and medical school (Columbia).  He started his post-graduate training in Internal Medicine-Pediatrics in New York City, thinking he would spend his entire career practicing in the city! Within two years, he was living on a float house, two miles across the water from the community health center in Klawock, Alaska, which hired him as their first physician. He paddled a kayak or motored a small skiff to work every day!  That year,- he got hooked on rural medicine and has never regretted for a minute leaving the big city. He finished Family Medicine residency in New Mexico, then returned to Juneau for two years at SEARHC, doing full spectrum family practice. He also worked in  Cordova before taking a sabbatical in London and then spending the next eight years living in the Northeast Corner of Connecticut. He then completed two years in a group practice, followed by six years in a solo Direct Primary Care practice, which he enjoyed. His eight years on the East Coast, however, were enough for his Alaskan wife, so they returned to AK in 2016, where he taught at the Family Medicine residency program in Anchorage for three years until moving to Unalaska/Dutch Harbor. 

In 2023, the family returned to Anchorage, where their youngest child wanted to go to high school.  A year later, he was hired as the medical director for all of the primary care clinics of the Southeast Alaska Regional Health Consortium (SEARHC), back where my career started.  After two years in medical leadership, he is currently transitioning back to seeing patients on a full-time basis, Dr. Buttner says, "It has been a joy and an honor to be a rural family physician."

Julie Staley was born in Australia and moved to Alaska in 1991. She retired from SERRC, Southeast Regional Resource Center, in 2024. With degrees in education and 47 years in the field, Julie commenced her career as a high school teacher, then high school administrator, and served in the Queensland Department of Education. Upon arriving in Alaska, she began her work at SERRC as an education specialist before becoming their Associate Director and then Executive Director. Julie and her husband, Dale, utilized hospice services during his end-stage cancer battle, with him passing in 2014. Since then, Julie has raised two amazing sons, Matthew and Timothy. In her newly retired life, Julie has been able to return to Australia more frequently to spend time with family, travel, attend concerts, read for pleasure, work in her garden, embroider, crochet, and walk our beautiful Juneau trails. Julie hopes to help create stronger awareness of end-of-life planning.