By Emma Granquist Houghton
Bill Mares’ choice to utilize Vermont’s Death with Dignity law reflects his lifelong commitment to autonomy and his love for Vermont.
“My life was not a single note, in vocation or avocation. I was happy to play as many notes as I could, as long as they harmonized into a chord,” Bill Mares reflected on his life full of service and wandering hobbies. Bill died last week at the age of 83, using Vermont’s Death with Dignity law. The way he lived and died was a testament to autonomy and the values he held closely.
A Lifelong Dedication to Autonomy and Vermont
Born in Texas and raised in Mexico City, Mares’ early life was marked by both privilege and tragedy. While his parents’ careers afforded opportunities for international travel, he also faced the devastating loss of his brother at the age of 16. After graduating from Harvard, he struggled to find his path, repeatedly choosing and abandoning professions like banking and law to please his parents. Encouraged by his high school coach to take control of his own life, Mares ultimately pursued a new direction and became a journalist.
Journalism eventually brought him to Vermont, where he and his wife would call home for over five decades. Bill wrote several pieces on Vermont’s Death with Dignity law, emphasizing its importance and sharing his personal experiences that shaped his advocacy. In a commentary for Vermont Public Radio, Mares supported Vermont Senate Bill-103, also known as the Death with Dignity bill, due to his own mother’s choice to end her life on her own terms. He highlighted the significance of allowing terminally ill, mentally competent individuals to decide the timing and manner of their death, underscoring the concept of free will in end-of-life decisions
In an interview with VTDigger’s David Goodman, Mares shared his diverse careers and hobbies, including serving three terms in the Vermont House of Representatives, teaching, beekeeping, brewing, fishing, singing, and running marathons, writing books on each subject. Joe Hagan, a retired pediatrician and close friend, remarked, “Bill did a lot of things and he did them well. They were always about service in some way.”
Mares’ Final Advocacy for Death with Dignity
As Bill’s health declined and he entered hospice, he chose to use Vermont’s Death with Dignity law and became a dedicated advocate for the law, reaching out to reporters to discuss his experience with dying. This openness was a remarkable shift for a man who “didn’t like to talk about his infirmities,” according to longtime friend Don Hooper. In the past, when faced with health setbacks, Mares would tell those around him, “Don’t worry about me and for God’s sake don’t call.” A week before his death, Mares expressed gratitude for “having the chance to drive the bus of my own disappearance.”
For more information about accessing Vermont’s Death with Dignity law, please visit our website.