Kim Wolny

A Legacy of Love, Light and Gratitude

Kim Wolny's legacy began with a moving funeral service at Forest Lawn Funeral Home in London, Ontario. Over 500 family members, friends and colleagues gathered together at the end of March, 2010 to pay tribute to the Director of Perinatal and Gynecologic Care at London Health Sciences Centre (LHSC).

Although she was only 39 years old when she died after an intense journey with cancer, Kim left an indelible mark on every life she touched. As a testament to Kim's legacy, family, friends and colleagues from the Hospital collectively gave almost $6,000 in memorial donations to London Health Sciences Foundation to commemorate her life.

But Kim's untimely death was just the beginning of her philanthropic impact. Prior to her passing, Kim determined that her life insurance policy would fund an endowment for Hospital staff to attend a training program to develop Emotional Intelligence (EI), a concept she had been introduced to as part of her leadership development training at LHSC. The development of Emotional Intelligence had made such an impact on both her personal and professional life that she wanted to give others at LHSC the opportunity to develop their own emotional intelligence.

Beginning with participation in a program on Emotional Intelligence and then through leadership coaching, Kim began a unique journey of uncovering and discovering how her beliefs and patterns of behaviour were impacting her effectiveness as a leader. She wanted to accelerate her EI so she enrolled in a unique, eight-day retreat program called the Hoffman Process. This program is designed to accelerate Emotional Intelligence by transforming habitual patterns that are often barriers to realizing one's full potential. The many benefits of the Hoffman Process include increased Emotional Intelligence and resiliency, clarity of purpose and vision, enhanced personal relationships and a renewed enthusiasm for life.

"Kim always knew she wanted to make a difference in people's lives," says Kim's sister, Shelley. "The emotional intelligence training she received resonated so strongly with her, she felt it would change health care." And change health care she did.

Kim's endowment will be awarded to Hospital staff members on June 16 every year to commemorate Kim's birthday. Kim felt that if everyone could face the challenges in their life from a place of love instead of fear (the core of emotional intelligence training), decisions could always be made in the best interest of everyone, both personally and professionally. For Kim, compassion meant everything.

Throughout her cancer journey, Kim kept an online journal that tracked her experiences, her highs and lows and the wisdom she gained to share with those she left behind. Her final journal entry summed up her compassion for humanity and insights about life: "It's time to sign off one last time. Please remember me when I was healthy and on my birthday rather than my death. If you see gerbera daisies, know that's me saying I'm okay and loving you from wherever I am. Until we meet again, with much love, light and gratitude."