LAST YEAR’S SPEAKERS
Denise Swick – Licensed Realtor with a new division devoted to senior relocation and downsizing consulting. At 34, Denise suddenly lost her mother. Instantly she became the sole caregiver for three elderly relatives. Quickly, Denise had to coordinate the process of moving her grandmother from her home of 30 years, her uncle into independent living, and another uncle into 24-hour care.
Through this experience, Denise learned how to navigate the transition while balancing all of the emotions. Her passion for real estate and helping people compelled her to become both a Senior Relocation and Probate/Estate specialist.
With over three decades of selling real estate in the Dayton Area, Denise has built a dynamic network to assist her clients through every step of the rightsizing process. Her passion, connections, and systems make these unique moves smooth while providing peace of mind to everyone involved.
Erika Knox – Funeral Director, Routsong Funeral Home. Erika Warsitz-Knox joined the team of caring professionals at Routsong Funeral Home in October of 2021. Erika graduated from Beavercreek High School in 2016 and continued her education at Sinclair Community College earning an Associate’s Degree, and finally earning her Bachelor of Mortuary Science from the Cincinnati College of Mortuary Science in 2019. After graduating, Erika earned her licenses as a Funeral Director, Embalmer, Crematory Operator, Pre-arrangement Counselor, Certified Life Celebrant, and Notary.
Nancy Roberson – Estate Planning and Asset Protection Lawyer, Roberson Law. Nancy’s interest in the fields of estate planning and probate law grew out of her experience of being widowed at the age of 27 when her daughter Amy was 2 years old. Amy is now working for Nancy, and Nancy has been married to Bob Roberson since 1984. Nancy co-founded and co-facilitate 2 support groups for widows until she retired from one of them in 2020. Nancy has presented the “Are You Prepared?” seminar for years and coauthored the workbook, Solutions. Nancy is also the author of the column, “You Don’t Know What You Don’t Know” that was featured in Living With Loss magazine for 3 years before the magazine ended in early 2013. In 2012, Nancy was recognized by the Dayton Daily News as one of the Ten Top Women in Dayton, and in both 2010 and 2017, Nancy’s law firm was honored as a Finalist for the Better Business Bureau Eclipse Integrity Award and received the award in 2020.
Amy Thie Family Care Advisor and CANA Certified Cremation Specialist at Arlington Memorial Gardens and Funeral Home. Amy Thie has been helping Cincinnati families plan their cemetery and funeral arrangements for over two years. In December of 2022 she joined the Arlington Memorial Gardens and Funeral Home, which won Cincinnati’s “Best of the Best” Funeral Home last year, as a bilingual Family Care Advisor and a CANA Certified Cremation Specialist. Amy came into this field with nearly a decade of experience in hospitality, which now translates into an affinity for personalizing services and providing renowned experiences for the families she serves. She is passionate about pre-arranging and finding unique ways to best honor loved ones lost.
Sam Routsong is part of the fourth generation of Routsongs to work at the funeral home. He has been a full-time team member since June of 2016, but previously had worked in many of the positions around the funeral home. In June of 2019 Sam completed all the state of Ohio requirements and tests to become a fully licensed Funeral Director. He has since completed his Funeral Celebrant Certification. To date he has made arrangements with over 500 families while learning every aspect of the business from his father and grandfather. Sam is especially proud to be carrying on his family’s tradition of helping others in their time of need.
Neil has been working for Dodds since he was 13 years old. He has several industry awards and was recognized in 2014 for the Monument Builders of North America (MBNA) Aspire Award. He has also received the Xenia Chamber of Commerce Industrial Award (x2)
and Completion of the Rock of Ages Preferred Memorial Counselor certificate.
Abby J. Snider of Dayton, Ohio graduated from Vandalia-Butler High School in 2006. She graduated from the University of Kentucky with a Leadership Communications Degree and Art Studio Degree.
She loves to spend time with her husband, two children, two sisters and other family and friends. She also enjoys shopping, painting, exercising and knitting if she has free time. She was married in July of 2011 to Brett Robinson who also works at the funeral home.
In May of 2013 Abby received her funeral director’s license. She and her husband Brett have 2 children, Elle and Parker Robinson. Abby attends St. Christopher Church, is on the board of OakTree Corner and on the board of the Vandalia Rotary Club as Fellowship Chair.
” I grew up in the funeral business and I could not imagine myself in any other industry. I am blessed to have the role models and co-workers that I have around me.”
Jack Brendamour has been the CEO of Junk King since 2018 and has led tremendous growth for the business in the last 5 years even though he was faced with the loss of the Founder overnight, the pandemic, and having 3 children under 2 years old at home. His leadership focuses on a positive culture before anything else, and his success is attributed to the Team that has been assembled around him. Jack ensures that he hires Indvidual’s with integrity that enjoy being part of our community and care about the environment.
Brian Bennett is an accomplished speaker, trainer, and writer with over thirty years of experience in strengthening leaders, building teams, implementing strategy, developing and teaching curriculum, creating impactful events and designing transformational programming. As founder and leader of Wingman Tribe, Brian has worked in a variety of settings with individuals and groups of all sizes has allowed Brian to be a strong resource for what works and what doesn’t for realizing individual, and team potential. Brian is a graduate of Lincoln Christian University, a certified Master Trainer with The Growth Coach
and certified Life Celebrant partnering with Routsong Funeral Home for the past 15 years. Brian is the proud father of 3 sons and grandpa of 2 granddaughters. He currently lives in the Cincinnati/Dayton area of Ohio.
Dr. Rachel Nolan is the founder of Sages of Grief LLC where she helps other navigate grief and walks grievers through the process of grieving as a series of attachments and separations, ups and downs. In 2015 she experienced the traumatic loss of her father and partner, within months of each over. She was well-educated, had resources, and was able to advocate for herself – yet, she was grief-stricken, immobilized, and in tremendous pain. She first tried medication. It didn’t help. Next, she went to clinical counseling. The counseling, itself, consisted of desensitization training resultant of a PTSD diagnosis that did calm her trauma symptomology; but it did NOTHING for her grief. Serendipitously, she was referred to a non-clinical peer-based program that she was encouraged to participate in. She thought she had nothing left to lose, so why not try it? Needless to say, the program changed her life and made her realize how much she want to give to grievers like her who are grappling with loss. In 2022, her business grew to the point where she needed to open up her own private practice.