The matriarch of the ICPA

I’m still in a bit of shock, I just cannot believe this person is gone. It is crushing, it’s like a piece of my heart was taken away last week with the passing of a wonderful person, mentor & friend Dr. Jeanne Ohm. Her death has hit me harder than I imagined. She was a fellow chiropractor, but also someone that I was fortunate enough to know personally, serving on the Academy board together, hanging out in Puerto Rico, Cape Cod & several other places, while sharing many discussions, laughs & a few glasses of wine. She had a passion for life and for chiropractic like no other woman that I know. And she communicated it greatly. There will no one else like her.

Jeanne was the “matriarch” for all of us pediatric & prenatal chiropractors, and a huge source of inspiration. As the leader of the ICPA (International Chiropractic Pediatric Association), and founder & editor of Pathways Magazine, she developed the certifying programs that exist today, and has taught hundreds of chiropractors around the world. I became certified in the Webster Technique in the year 2000, and at that point, the ICPA was in a bit of a standstill without a leader. Jeanne took over the ICPA two years later and grew it to the wonderful organization it is today, the largest group in chiropractic.

Jeanne had an amazing presence and zest for life. She empowered women, not only during pregnancy, but during life in general. And her love for babies, how she held them, touched them & adjusted them was just amazing. She spoke of love, life and freedom to choose. She was lovingly fierce and powerful, and trusted her innate deeply. People like her are few and far between, and I feel blessed to have known her.

I’ve spent time reading posts & comments on Facebook about her over the past few days; there are just so many, and many are just too sad to keep on reading. But they describe who she was perfectly.  Her son shared some incredible words about her passing, and as of this writing, there were more than 1900 likes/loves/sad reactions and over 200 shares…and in my opinion, that speaks volumes as to the person she was.

And as one person said “It’s a damn good thing you inspired tens of thousands of chiropractors, Jeanne, because it’s going to take all of us to replace you.”  And that’s the truth.

Life. Is. Short. Make it count.

RIP my friend, and may you continue to shine your light.