Obituaries
Spiers, Leader in Death With Dignity Movement, Dies at 62
Dr. Paul Spiers, a forensic neuropsychologist, was a leader of the Death With Dignity Movement both in Massachusetts and nationally. He was 62.
Danvers resident Paul Spiers, Ph.D, a forensic neuropsychologist and key figure in the movement that placed a Death With Dignity question on the ballot for Massachusetts voters last year, died last week. He was 62.
Spiers was a former chairman of the board of directors and member of Compassion & Choices, a national nonprofit advocacy group for what it terms the "End of Life Choice Movement." Last fall's ballot question in Massachusetts was defeated by just a 3 percent margin.
Compassion & Choices released a statement in the days after Spiers' death on Sept. 11, saying the Death With Dignity movement suffered a great loss of a visionary leader.
"Our movement took great evolutionary leaps in the early years of this millennium, and Paul Spiers was the force behind that evolution. He broadened the focus of the old Hemlock Society to include excellent end-of-life care and, as chair of the board, led it to change its name and mission," read a statement from media relations manager Sean Crowley.
"In January 2003 he [Spiers] courageously distanced the organization from movement extremists and clarified the limitation of its advocacy of aid in dying to the terminally ill and mentally competent. In July of that year the Hemlock Society became End-of-Life Choices and began to realize opportunities for growth and leadership that continue at Compassion & Choices today," the statement read.
“We all owe him a great debt for his service to our organization. We would not be where we are today without his vision for the unification of two prominent organizations over nine years ago,” said President Barbara Coombs Lee. “He will be warmly remembered and dearly missed.”
According to Spiers' obituary, he died "peacefully in his sleep." He was injured in a horse-riding accident 19 years ago and was rendered a paraplegic.
Spiers, an accomplished rider and polo enthusiast, eventually returned to Myopia Hunt Club in Hamilton and remained a fixture there. He underwent rehabilitation after his accident partly at Windrush Farm in North Andover, a therapeutic riding center.
Compassion & Choices said patients' rights only became more important to Spiers as a disabled citizen. The statement said Spiers believed that having autonomy in "end-of-life-matters" was "critically important" to he and others with disabilities.
Spiers and his sister were born in Montreal, Canada. According to his obituary, he studied at McGill University in the 1970s where he studied neuropsychology and earned a doctorate degree at Clark University.
He also studied at the University of Paris, conducted research at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, taught at the Boston University School of Medicine and served as an expert witness in probate, civil and criminal cases.
A memorial will be held Sept. 24 at the Myopia Hunt Club from 5-7 p.m. In lieu of flowers, donations in his memory can be sent to Windrush Farm. Services are being arranged with Lehman Reen & McNamara Funeral Home in Brighton.
Get more local news delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for free Patch newsletters and alerts.