Sean Jeung is a pioneer of demystifying, destigmatizing—and, above all, honoring—death and dying. 

The former Montessori teacher and social worker began working in palliative care almost 25 years ago when struck by the grace with which her mother died from pancreatic cancer. Since then, Sean has filled a variety of roles that support end-of-life care, from serving as the first employee at Hospice of the Valley in the Roaring Fork Valley of Colorado to acting as the Chaplain at Valley View Hospital’s Calaway-Young Cancer Center in Glenwood Springs, Colorado—a position that’s not only nondenominational but also not religious. She describes hospice care as holding space for others during one of life’s most critical moments. “It is,” she says, “being with people in a rocky time of trauma and drama and loss with the sense that we’re not alone—that there’s something at work that we can’t see or touch that’s all powerful and good.”

This conviction inspired Sean to create “Where the Veil Grows Thin,” a bi-monthly end-of-life podcast that helps people navigate loss and grief. The stories she shares reflect life itself. Some are poignant and sorrowful. Others brim with humor and hope. And others evoke the beauty that can be found in death and letting go. All are told with Sean’s signature mix of candor and compassion—and all speak directly to the heart. 

Board certified in Clinical Pastoral Education and Psychotherapy, Sean has also worked as a grief counselor at Pathfinders of Aspen and as the Bereavement Care Coordinator for Hospice of the Valley. She champions the right to die with Medical Aid and continues to be a vocal, active proponent for advanced directives—and for fostering friendlier, more open conversations about death and dying.

Sean views death as part of living, but the fear of death, she believes, keeps us from living as deeply as we could. “So much of the world’s woes come from unaddressed, unrecognized, uncelebrated grief. We are born of loss. You don’t get over it. It’s part of who you are, but I don’t think it’s something we should go through alone.”

“Where the Veil Grows Thin,” and Sean’s wealth of knowledge and resources, helps ensure terminally ill patients and those closest to them have the nourishment they need to embrace death and dying with empathy and acceptance. Created in the vein of “The Art of Dying Well,” each episode of Where the Veil Grows Thin provides a brief but telling glimpse at what it means to love amidst loss.

As a leading expert in death and dying, Sean remains grateful her mother had the wisdom and tenacity to set such a high bar for what an expected death can look like. She has experienced maybe one or two deaths that come close to what she experienced with her mom, but the vision is always there, just waiting to become a reality. Her hope is that the information furnished here will give patients, caregivers, and their loved ones the practical guidance and emotional sustenance they need during end-of-life care—and beyond.