Jessi has been a LVT since 2008 and a Certified Hospice and Palliative Care Technician (CHPT) since 2018. She is the first and only veterinary professional in the U.P. to have this advanced certification. Her husband Gordon’s previous military career allowed her to live and practice in Lower Michigan, Alaska, and Virginia. Jessi owns Compassionate Pet Care of the Upper Peninsula where she provides in-home veterinary nursing care, and co-owns Sheltered Harbor Pet Memorials with her husband where they make personalized pet memorial keepsakes.
Jessi has worked with everything from pocket pets to eagles to reindeer and retired Iditarod sled dogs in Alaska. Whether it is discussing what to expect during a disease process or helping families prepare for the end of their pet’s journey in life, Jessi has a passion for helping geriatric pets and their families through pet hospice and end-of-life care. Jessi serves as a board member of the International Association for Animal Hospice and Palliative Care (IAAHPC). She has also had the opportunity to speak at the Michigan Veterinary Conference and lecture for the hospice certification program through the IAAHPC.
She enjoys a good Stephen King book, gardening, spending time outdoors, crocheting, tattoos, and hard rock music. Jessi lives in Negaunee where she, Gordon, and their two daughters, Lenore and Elowen share their home with 2 geriatric cats; Fiona, and Zoey, and a young, silly lab mix named Musta.