Velda Clark is retiring from the field of palliative care after 28 years of outstanding regional and national leadership. Inspired by the early work of Dr. Balfour Mount of Montreal and Dame Cicely Saunders of England, she was one of several individuals in Regina who first recognized the need for an advocacy group to study this emerging field, and to promote the establishment of a program for our population. With her partners, she founded Regina Palliative Care, Inc., a Canadian registered charity, and later became the first Director of Regina Palliative Care Services. As she retires in January 2009, she leaves as her legacy one of the country’s best developed, holistic interdisciplinary teams, serving the people of the Regina Qu’Appelle Health Region and of southern Saskatchewan with primary and tertiary hospice palliative care services. Velda’s accomplishments have been driven by her deep compassion for the dying, their families and the bereaved. Her visionary leadership across the spectrum of palliative and bereavement care has been central to the development of an 85-member integrated, multi-site team following patients seamlessly throughout the continuum of care. She supported the collaborative development of our province’s first community hospice (Regina Wascana Grace Hospice). Most recently, she was instrumental in the founding of the Greystone Bereavement Centre, to provide a range of clinically appropriate and culturally sensitive grief support services both to individuals and to groups. Velda’s strong commitment to palliative care education has enabled her program staff to provide education in this specialty to rural and remote areas and at regional, national and international events. She and they have contributed in numerous ways to the development of the Canadian Hospice Palliative Care Association and the Saskatchewan Hospice Palliative Care Association. Velda has always been committed to the partnership between public healthcare and community stakeholders. She pioneered the development of and continues to strongly support an 80-member program of trained volunteers; and, the outstanding volunteer community board of Regina Palliative Care, Inc. This collaboration has resulted in the contribution of thousands of volunteer hours annually and the skillful management of substantial donations that allow the program to enhance patient comfort and safety (particularly at home), support continuing professional development for staff, and provide outstanding bereavement services. Take a bow Velda, you have earned it!