2024 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.
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. Neil is credited with several industry awards including the Monument Builders of North America’s Aspire Award in 2014, 2019 and the 2020 Cremation Memorial Design of the Year. Neil teaches a 2-hour seminar at Cincinnati College of Mortuary Science on the importance of memorialization in the grieving process. He is also the Founder of the Before I Die Ohio Festival, an active member of the Xenia Rotary Club and was the Camp Director for his church’s summer camp for 17 years. He graduated from Miami University in 1995 and married his college sweetheart, Kerry. They have 3 children, Caleb; Ellie; Aliya, and live in Troy, 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.
Hope Reger lives in Delaware, Ohio with her husband Mike, She has two sons Brian, 31 and Justin, forever 19 and two amazing grand-daughters, Haylynn and Addi. Hope’s “day job” is a talent coordinator with a major financial institution for the past 25 years. Hope believes her purpose in life was given to her after the traumatic loss of her son to murder. That purpose is to provide positivity, inspiration, and hope to others through her Grief 2 Hope program she created in honor of her son. Grief 2 Hope is a virtual peer grief support group that allows grievers a safe space to be their authentic self with support of others who understand and know exactly what they are going through. One of Hope’s quotes she likes to ends each session with is ” Grief changes your entire world, it can also inspire you to change the world”.
Maria Dunlap is a Cincinnati native whose first child, Vivian, inspired the inception of Reviv Family Support Foundation where she has been CEO for the past 10 years. After working extensively with families who have medically complex children in and through their grief, she became a Death Companion and End of Life Doula. She now offers workshops, certifications and inspiration through her relational grief initiative, Guided Arrow.
Rick Kaufhold is a lifelong resident of the Dayton area. He has a BA from Wright State University and is currently working toward his Masters in Healthcare Administration. Rick has been in hospice sales and leadership for the last 15 years, and he is currently a representative for VITAS Healthcare, the nation’s leading provider of hospice care. In his spare time, Rick enjoys hiking the area MetroParks, and spending time with his friends and family.
Angela Bowling earned a business degree from Ohio’s Miami University in Oxford and brings with her over 15 years of customer service management, working in both the Dayton and Cincinnati areas. Angela is dedicated to providing services to the families of Dayton’s communities with care and compassion. She understands that the challenges of life can be overwhelming and is committed to helping relieve these, allowing for the celebration of life.
Tim Walters is the owner of Monu-Bright Cemetery Services located in Englewood, Ohio, offering unique services such as memorial cleaning, bronze refinishing, memorial repair, foundation installation, whole cemetery restoration, grave digging & cemetery management. Tim began his career at Dodds Memorials in 2010 where he worked delivering & setting memorials of all shapes and sizes. During this time he discovered there was a need for memorial cleanings, bronze refinishing and more. He learned or created his own techniques and in 2013 he started Monu-Bright with the focus on “restoring precious memories”. Tim had the honor of refinishing bronze plaques honoring Presidents & historic events all around the Dayton area, including the State of Ohio Korean War Memorial. Monu-Bright is also contracted to manage Mt Zion Shoup Cemetery in Beavercreek, Ohio. Both Tim’s parents also worked as sales associates at Dodd’s Memorials and have since retired.
Tim lives in Vandalia, Ohio with his wife/Office Manager Randi, three daughters Riley, Reese & Raelyn as well as our Irish doodle, Max. In his free time he enjoys rooting on the Cincinnati Bengals, UK Wildcats & Dayton Flyers.
Jen Blalock became a Death Doula and End-of-Life Guide in 2021. Jen serves people and families who are approaching the end of life by helping them create a death plan, clarifying what a person wants at and after their death. Death planning includes doing deep emotional work to come to terms with the reality of dying for the purpose of creating legacy projects to say “good-bye” to loved ones. A person does not have to be approaching the end of life to engage the death planning process. The work provides an opportunity to deepen one’s relationship with life and living by mitigating the fear of death. Jen has a BA & MA in Speech Communication and was trained by the International End-of-Life Doula Association.