Valerie Lovelace

Val is the founder and executive director of Maine Death with Dignity, a 501(c)(3) non-profit established in 2014.

The overall mission of Maine Death with Dignity is providing services, education, and end-of-life advocacy to people who wish to actively explore the meaning of life through embracing the certainty of death.

From 2013 through 2019, Val organized and led Maine’s grassroots effort to pass a medical-aid-in-dying law. The Maine Death with Dignity Act went into effect on September 19, 2019. Val mentors and collaborates with grassroots leaders in other states still trying to pass this legislation.

Among other end-of-life topics, Val educates on the history of medical assistance in dying in the U.S., how the laws work, and the eligibility requirements for receiving life-ending medication a terminally ill patient may take on their own to end their life peacefully and humanely at a time of their own choosing.

She is the mother of three adult children and an accomplished artist. When she isn’t “doing death stuff” (her son’s description), she spends her time enjoying two amazing grandsons and working on a variety of creative projects.

Val is a retired Navy veteran of 20 years. She holds a Master of Science degree in human relations from Husson University in Bangor, Maine, and a B.S. in industrial technology from the University of Southern Maine.

Val received ordination in June, 2022 from the Chaplaincy Institute of Maine.