Lisa "Lise" Rein

Lisa (Lise) Rein

Lise died outside, Zurich, Switzerland, on September 11, 2013. She chose a death with dignity to end the long suffering associated with Posterior Cortical Atrophy, a rare form of Alzheimer's disease. She was at peace with her decision and died surrounded by family and friends. To know Lise was to love her. She loved people without judgement. She was open for adventure and loved life.

Lise was born on January 26, 1953 in Trenton, New Jersey to Norma Totter Rein (deceased) and George Rein (deceased). Lise was survived by her husband and life partner, Daniel Parker, of Eugene, Oregon, her brother, Geoffrey Rein of Titusville, New Jersey, her uncle Richard Rein of Cream Ridge, New Jersey, and cousins, Barbara Baldazar, Robert Rein Jr. and Christopher Rein.

In the 1970's Lise began her involvement in the concept of an 'equitable world'. Her philosophy of sharing the wealth through equitable distribution by cooperative work effort was heavily influenced by the writings of Charles Gray, Wendall Berry and Daniel Zwerdling. Lise was heavily involved in the co-operative efforts in Eugene, Oregon at that time. She was financial manager of the West End Food Coop, and later when the coop disbanded managed the assets as The West End Trust Fund, which were donated to the McKenzie River Gathering. Those assets were available for the approximately 30 coops in the Eugene area. Some of the coops were Arable, Aprovecho, Genesis Juice and Toby's. Lise also served on the board of the Oregon Urban and Rural (OUR) Credit Union in Eugene, Oregon.

In 1974, Lise co-founded Surata Soyfood Cooperative with Susan Wallace (now Schafer) and Benjamin (Benjie) Hill. Lise, with Marshall Landman, founded the first community garden in Eugene in 1978 at Skinner Butte Park. She worked on the Oregon Environmental Council for five years. She was a dedicated planetary citizen, always serving and inspiring political and personal changes for a harmonious life for all.

In 1988 Lise earned a BS in Accounting from the University of Oregon. In 1990, she earned her CPA, while working for Deloite and Touche in Portland, Oregon. She was employed from 1991 through 1998 with the public relations firm of Wagener/Edstrom as assistant controller.

In 2003 Lise earned a certificate as a Qi Gong instructor from the National College of Natural Medicine. She was grateful for developing awareness of the personal practice which she used to the end of her life. She was a passionate advocate for healthy living and sustainable agriculture, returning to her community garden roots and growing organic garden vegetables to feed her family and friends.

Lise' dying wish was that all of her friends work to make Oregon's death with dignity be available to anyone with a degenerative neurological disorder by excluding those with the neurological disease from the restriction of being within six months of death. Seldom do people with these diseases still have good cognition at that time.