Comedian Tim Conway’s Final Years

In his early eighties, the great comedic actor Tim Conway of The Carol Burnett Show fame, experienced significant cognitive decline. It was at this time that his daughter, Kelly Conway, who had a close relationship with her stepmom, Charlene, throughout the 34 years of her dad’s second marriage, began an almost three year-long struggle with Charlene. Conflicts arose over whether to keep her father at home, which Conway wanted to protect her dad’s privacy, or in a long-term care facility, which her stepmom ultimately chose.

As the conflict with her stepmom escalated when her father was moved to a new facility and Conway was barred from visiting, she enlisted the aid of an attorney to ensure she had visitation rights and access to the information on the care he was being provided.  Through mediation, Conway was granted those legal visitation rights. However, her stepmother violated the order and continued to prohibit Conway from seeing her dad. Each visit required Conway getting her lawyer to call her stepmom’s lawyer and insisting on her legal rights.

Grace Whiting, executive director of the National Academy of Elder Law Attorneys (NAELA), advises, “The goal of proper planning is for the individual’s wishes to survive incapacity and to avoid the necessity of guardianship.  But it can be hard to foresee the conflicts that can arise when a loved one is unable to speak on their own behalf. Since laws vary state to state and long-term care laws are complex, Whiting said an elder law attorney is fluent in these issues and can become a valuable resource for families.

On the day her father died, Kelly learned about it from a friend on the East Coast who heard it on the early news. There was no time left for her to fight for one last chance to see him and no phone call from her stepmom to advise of his passing.Editor’s Note: Not wishing to let the story of one of America’s greatest funny men end on a sad note, please search for Tim Conway’s “The Dentist” on youtube.com to watch one of his very greatest (and funniest) skits.

Editor’s Note: Not wishing to let the story of one of America’s greatest funny men end on a sad note, please search for Tim Conway’s “The Dentist” on youtube.com to watch one of his very greatest (and funniest) skits.