Death:OK is produced by an all-volunteer planning committee. Our fiscal agent is White Eagle Memorial Preserve, a woodland Conservation Burial Ground and 501(c)(3) tax-exempt non-profit organization. Read about the process of coming up with our identity as Death:OK.
Meet our Steering Committee
Holly Pruett, Steering Committee Chair & Programming Co-Chair
Holly brings 30 years of experience as a community and political organizer, non-profit executive director and consultant to her volunteer role with Death:OK. Currently a Life-Cycle Celebrant and Home Funeral Guide, Holly works with individuals, families, and communities to create unique, personalized ceremonies from cradle to grave. Read our Q&A with Holly.
Jodie Buller, Operations Chair
Jodie is the Cemetery Manager at White Eagle Memorial Preserve, a conservation burial ground at Ekone Ranch in Goldendale, WA. She has run Subdued Central at the Subdued Stringband Jamboree for 10 years, and helped to support the Art of Death in Bellingham last fall. She lives part-time at Ekone and part-time in Skagit Valley, WA, where she works on community radio programming and helps coordinate the Mount Vernon Farmers Market. Read our Q & A with Jodie.
Tio Houston, Programming Co-Chair
Tio D. Houston is a clinical social worker with more than 20 years of counseling experience. He helps people resolve their difficult life challenges, transitions and losses. He promotes reclaiming our personal role in providing death care for our loved ones. He is a hospice volunteer and facilitates Death Cafes to engage people in talking about death in an easy setting. Read our Q & A with Tio.
Traci Emerson, Marketing Chair
Traci brings 20 years of corporate sales management experience to her role as Marketing Chair on the Steering Committee. She has served as a facilitator at several PDX Death Cafes and organized two extended program Death Cafes at the Q Center. She is working towards reclaiming the traditional role of family and community in caring for our beloved dying and dead. Read our Q & A with Traci.