Terri Opp’s Story

As parents, we do whatever we can to support, nurture and encourage our children; trying to making things better. For Jim and Marilyn Opp that was certainly true.

When their daughter, Terri, developed heart issues at a young age, they sought care, treatment and answers to the heart disease that plagued their daughter throughout childhood and into adulthood. They encouraged Terri to approach her challenges with a positive, can-do attitude, and she did. Despite these health challenges, Terri was a vibrant, active young person. She rode her bike, lettered in volleyball as her team’s manager and earned a bachelor’s degree in International Business from Minnesota State University Moorhead.

Despite numerous surgeries and treatments, Terri eventually was listed on the transplant list for a new heart. A heart which did not come in time to save Terri’s life.  

Even though a transplant wasn’t meant to be for Terri, she was able to be a tissue and eye donor, offering hope and healing to someone else.

Since 1995, Jim and Marilyn, along with their family and friends, old and new, have been steadfast in their determination to create a world where no one need wait for a life-saving organ transplant.

It was Terri’s 3M co-workers, family and friends who began the golf tournament in 1995. Today, the LifeSource Golf Classic continues in Terri’s memory to support education about organ and tissue donation and the difference we can make by registering to be a donor. The event is organized by LifeSource and a group of volunteers made up of her family, friends and members of the community who share Terri’s commitment to this important cause. 

Through sharing Terri’s story and the facts about organ donation, they have helped increase awareness and encouraged countless individuals to check the box. Since that time, millions of people have registered their decision and checked the box to save lives.