Lois Camp, CMT, passed away in March 2009. At 70 years old, Lois never considered retiring. She was a quiet, but highly-respected professional. She had a career that spanned over 50 years, which included being a service owner, educator, acute-care MT, QA supervisor, SRT editor, working with domestic and off-shore team members, mentored externs and participated in the AHDI e-mentoring program. Her passion was life-long learning, the need to provide perfect documentation, and held this expectation for those who worked with her. She was an active member of the Oregon state component, generously supporting all the events, especially with her contribution of door prizes, which usually included Jelly Belly Beans. She enjoyed traveling, was a proud member of the Red Hat Society, a ruthless Bunco player, and shared her gift of playing the piano at local churches and senior centers. We were given the gift of all her reference books, and have had the honor of passing on her legacy to students at each of our regional events over the past year. We know she would encourage each of them to embrace our profession and be life-long learners.

Margaret Retoske, CMT-R, CMA-AC passed away in November 2009 at the age of 88. She was a long-time member of the Orange County Chapter and a very knowledgeable parliamentarian. Although she did not own or use a computer, and was retired, she still rose to the request to submit letters to our legislators for the AHDI Advocacy Summit 2009. She typed, yes, from a typewriter, a heartfelt letter to the California legislators. We had the distinct honor of hand-delivering these letters during our visit to DC last June. She was so well loved by all our members. She contributed much to the association and to her fellow transcriptionists. Her dedication to the profession will always be an example to us.

Rhonda Emery, CMT of Rogue River, Oregon, died suddenly at home on October 5, 2009. She was 52. Rhonda worked at Rogue Valley Medical Center, Medford Oregon, spent a year in India as a trainer for then remotely as a team leader for Healthscribe, and QA for JLG Medical Transcription. When Rhonda wasn’t working in transcription, she showed Old English Sheepdogs and her dog, TrueSilver, was #2 in the nation for that breed. She was a superb member of our profession and will be missed by all who knew her. The picture includes Rhonda on the right, and an Indian student in their beautiful saris.

Lori Cole passed away in early September 2009. She lived in Southern California and was involved in the medical profession for 15 years before deciding to transition to medical transcription. Unfortunately, Lori never got the opportunity to meet any other MTs or secure a position in the medical transcription field before passing away.