Founder Holly Pruett

I work with families and communities to create unique, personalized ceremonies that support bereavement and remembrance, including supporting families to care for their dead at home.
Starting in early 2013 I served as principal organizer of PDX Death Café, acknowledged as the largest death café across 50+ countries. Now an advisor to the next generation of PDX Death Café leaders, I’ve led Death Cafés at restaurants, libraries, hospice programs, community centers, college reunions, and a music festival.
I led the successful 500-person, 10-hour day of programming Death:OK, Let’s Talk About It, held in Portland, Oregon in 2015.
I served for three years as a facilitator with Oregon Humanities’ Talking About Dying conversation program.
For 30 years I served the community through local, state, and national non-profit organizations as a community organizer, executive director, and consultant.
My principal teachers in this work have been the deaths I have attended; I’ve written extensively about my father and my dear friend Marcy Westerling, among others. My work with Lynda Martin-McCormick on her husband’s home funeral was featured in a short video: Death DIY.
I’m a writer with a popular blog on meaningful celebrations and commemorations; I serve as a frequent source for the media.

Eight+ years of study with Stephen Jenkinson, MTS, MSW at his Orphan Wisdom School in the Ottawa Valley, Canada
Professional Presence End of Life Doula training with The Peaceful Presence Project
Certified in Thanatology: Death, Dying & Bereavement by the Association for Death Education & Counseling
Certified in Funerals and Ceremonies for Children and Families by the Celebrant Foundation & Institute and as a Home Funeral Guide by Final Passages
Ordained interfaith minister
Master’s degree from the Leadership Institute of Seattle; BA in history from Reed College

Design and officiate customized rituals and ceremonies for individuals, families, organizations, and communities
Serve as a sounding board to individuals and families as they explore, determine, and plan for what will happen during their dying time and after their death
Provide public speaking, media interviews, training, and community consultation on a range of topics related to how we die, how we mourn, and how we remember our dead
Advise organizations and communities on designing and producing community conversations and other events
Support new practitioners through personal consultation