A Room to Heal: Marsha J. Hance’s Gift of Comfort and Care

Marsha J. Hance made a gift that quietly transformed the way VNA & Hospice of the Southwest Region (VNAHSR) supports those walking through grief. Her donation to the Life’s Journey Capital Campaign in 2018 created the Marsha J. Hance Comfort and Care Center, in loving memory of Ron Hance—a serene, purposefully designed space dedicated to bereavement support. It stands not only as a tribute to her late husband, Ron Hance, but also as a heartfelt offering to the community they both came to love.

Marsha, a board member of VNAHSR since 2017, sat with Gina Grove, Annual Fund and Development Manager, in the space she envisioned after her own experience with loss ten years ago. As she moved through the room, she pointed out the deeply personal details—a pair of wooden ducks resting on a mantle that once belonged to Ron, abstract artwork that welcomes all interpretations, seating oriented toward views of nature, no clocks to hold grief to a time limit, a felt cardinal, gifted by Ron’s very first friend, perched in a decorative birch tree gently aglow with twinkle lights.

When Marsha herself needed grief counseling after Ron’s passing, this room did not exist – yet. “Counseling happened wherever there was space—offices, conference rooms, even outside,” she recalled. “The first year of loss you focus on getting through all of the firsts. Looking back, it was important that I designed this room after that first year, because it was then that I knew what was needed.”

She designed the Marsha J. Hance Comfort and Care Center as a “soft landing”—a place to exhale, reflect and begin to heal in the memory of their loved one. “I hope people feel a little better when they leave than when they walked in.” A living tribute to a man who loved Rutland with his heart and soul.

Ron Hance spent a majority of his career at Heritage Family Credit Union and served as a board member of the World Council of Credit Unions. His travels spanned the globe, but when it came to where he might retire, Ron knew there was nowhere he’d rather be than Rutland. “Ron loved to help people,” Marsha said. “People helping people—that’s what he lived by. His eyes would well with happy tears knowing this room was available to the community.”

Now, thanks to Marsha’s generosity, families and loved ones of patients served through VNAHSR’s Hospice program have access to the Marsha J. Hance Comfort and Care Center. Through the Medicare hospice benefit, bereavement services are offered up to 13 months after a patient’s death—a vital and often overlooked part of the care journey.

In a world where caregivers often feel forgotten in the shadows of loss, Marsha wanted to make sure no one had to grieve alone. “They need help when the hearse leaves, when the chaos settles.” She likened grief counseling to the thread that helps us stitch our hearts back together—stronger and softer all at once.

For Marsha, this gift was also about giving back to the place that had embraced her. Though she didn’t grow up, work or live most of her life in Rutland, she was welcomed here through Ron. “For years, I was known as ‘Ron’s wife’—and I adored that,” she said with a smile. “This gift, and this room, allowed me to put a stamp on a community that didn’t really know me.”

Marsha hopes her story encourages others to consider how their generosity can shape the places they live in—or come to call home. “You don’t have to be from here to care about the people here. You just have to see the need and make that impact.”

The Marsha J. Hance Comfort and Care Center she says, is like planting a tree in Rutland—rooted in personal meaning, but for the community to benefit from for years to come.

Giving is more than a financial transaction. It’s an act of hope. It’s a way of honoring the past, nurturing the present, and investing in the future. It’s how we plant roots—not just for ourselves, but for others we may never meet. “I’ll never know all the people my contributions have helped,” Marsha said. “But I believe in this work. I believe in this agency. And I’m going to keep spreading the message about this wonderful organization that helped us both.”

Her voice carries warmth and quiet strength, but the message is clear: the health of a community depends on the people willing to give back to it. When we support one another—through loss, through love, through life—we create a legacy that lasts far beyond us.