Kristen Riecke
Kristen Riecke is a special consultant to professionals working to support people experiencing the unique pain of losing a child. Kristen and Patrick have four living children and one already in heaven. Kristen is a graduate of Johnson University, and has served families experiencing this kind of loss for more than twenty years. Her work includes both community and hospital-based bereavement efforts. She has led support groups for pregnancy loss, infant loss, and pregnancy after a loss. She also created a program that pairs volunteers with moms experiencing stillbirth, called Kindred Hearts. Her personal experience of pregnancy loss came when she and Patrick lost their first son, Stephen, in 2000.
She is the author of No Matter How Small: Understanding Miscarriage and Stillbirth.
In addition to this her role as a special consultant, Kristen is the administrative leader, social media manager, and event planner for Riecke Consulting.
Navigating Trauma and Grief
Death and grief impact coworkers, no doubt. But the ripples don’t stop there. Experiencing a personal loss like the death of a parent, partner, or child, can be a turning point for how a coworker approaches their job. Organizations and leaders can shine with expert support, or betray their coworkers by failing them in their time of greatest need.
Patrick spent over a decade serving as Dignity and Spiritual Care Director and Ethics Chairperson for a Magnet health system with over 15,000 coworkers and ten hospitals. His team has responded to over 15,000 patient deaths.
Patrick also led the Ethics Committee through the challenges of a worldwide pandemic. He gives support and guidance to clinicians who want to provide the best possible care for their patients, even at the end of life.
He is the author of ten books, including:
How to Talk with Sick, Dying, and Grieving People
How to Find Meaning in Your Life (Before it Ends)
No Matter How Small: Understanding Miscarriage and Stillbirth
Trusted Resources
Patrick Riecke's non-fiction books serve as indispensable guides tailored to support leaders who are entrusted with supporting others through trauma and grief. Although crafted with the grieving individual in mind, these books extend their reach to encompass a broader audience of compassionate professionals and leaders committed to fostering resilience in the face of adversity.
What People Are Saying
“As a theological educator, I am constantly asked, ‘What do I say to a person who is suffering?’ This book provides the best-informed advice I’ve seen and in a clean, readable format.”
How to Talk with Sick, Dying, and Grieving People
— Rev. Dr. Jon Weatherly
“Whether you are a trained professional or a concerned friend, Patrick’s tips are so varied that you will be able to find one that will fit each situation you encounter. After reading this book, you will feel like you have the skills needed to participate in one of life’s greatest opportunities, supporting someone who is suffering.”
How to Find Meaning
— Christianne Brinneman, MSW
“I went through a miscarriage two weeks before Thanksgiving. A month later, I realized that I wasn’t any “better” and in some ways I was even more sad than the day I found out our baby no longer had a heartbeat. I started therapy and came across this book. My feelings were validated through these women’s stories.
I felt a little less alone. I would recommend this book to anyone who has gone through a loss or wants to support someone who has.”
No Matter How Small
— Amanda, Bereaved Mother
Love Persevering
These six stories will touch your heart, move you to tears, and restore your faith even in the darkest times.
Like the P.S. of a letter, grief often comes at the end of the story. Grief is highly valuable, although easily misunderstood. The last words from a dying loved one can reframe the previous decades. Grief can become the lens through which we see everything else.
We remember. We grieve. We love.
“What is grief, if not love persevering?” - Marvel’s Vision
Bethany’s Last Words 2021
Robert’s Last Tour 2021
Emma’s Empty Arms 2021
Toby’s Daughter Died 2022
Lori’s Voice 2022
George’s Final Gifts 2022
Meet the Love Persevering Characters
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George
George’s Final Gift’s is a cozy tale of love that cannot be quenched, even by death.
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Emma
A tender tear jerker, Emma’s Empty Arm’s is honest and piercing.
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Toby
Toby’s Daughter Died is a story of young love finding their way through the devastating loss of their first baby.
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Bethany
Bethany’s Last Words is the story of one woman’s fight for her life that is sure to crush your heart and lift your spirits.
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Lori
Lori’s Voice is a painful yet inspiring story. Your heart will break but your soul will be inspired by her strength.
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Robert
In Robert’s Last Tour your hope will be restored, your heart touched, and you just might start planning a tour of your own.
