UCSC Survivor Work Group

Things To Do Before You Die

The End

Like a well-crafted work of art
It seems that life
Should have a fitting end.
A grand finale, planned unveiling,
A recognition of some sort.
But that’s not how it often goes.
A life just stops in varied ways:
Unexpected, slow decline,
Endings seldom wanted
As other lives go on.
Faith provides that missing end,
But even then, there’s room to doubt
In those who look towards heaven’s gate.
For most, the end is seldom right.
And yet, in retrospect, it’s clear
In life, as on the stage,
Well-crafted art precedes the final curtain;
The art is in the living.

--Edward F Houghton
4 November 2020

Planning Documents

"What To Do Before You Die," by Barry McLaughlin, Professor Emeritus Psychology. This article is a To Do list, including UCSC email account. Two checklists are included: Before You Die and On Death.

Family Letter Format, by Adrian Harris, Professor Emeritus, UCLA, is a similar list that began in 1965, updated 2007.

Letter of Direction, by Jack Fisher, Professor Emeritus, UCSD. Good suggestions including obituary.

University Policy on Deceased Email Accounts. Please realize that when you die, your ucsc.edu account dies with you. Your survivors will not be able to see who you corresponded with. Why? Your access to university accounts is tied to your ucsc.edu email account, and UC must terminate access. You can use Thunderbird email agent set up to keep a local copy of your email that will not disappear when you die. You can also forward ucsc.edu email to a gmail.com account where the email will remain and convert to the gmail account as your active account. And you can plan and make backups that are documented.

Campus Directory. Deceased Emeriti are removed from the UCSC campus directory after death. If you want people world-wide to find your deceased, create a Google Site under your or your child's gmail account. You are reading a Google Site right now.

Memorials Database. The UCSC Emeriti Association maintains a comprehensive Emeriti Memorial database containing all UCSC Emeriti since the founding of UCSC, the only campus to provide this.

1099-R pension tax record for previous year. Retiree, log into UCRAYS, download your 1099-R and place a copy in your Survivor folder. Do this annually. Why? Because your Survivor will not be able to access your disabled UCRAYS account and even when your Survivor gets a UCRAYS account after the Survivor Pension begins, it won't have your 1099-R. One third of UCSC Survivors have had difficulty getting the 1099-R for their deceased retiree.

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Things To Do Before You Die

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