Mike Beilby was suffering from a terminal illness when a doctor told him he would be "lucky" to get pneumonia and die quickly.
He decided not to wait and instead illegally imported a drug to take his own life at his Perth Hills home in 2013 as his wife of 51 years held his hand.
Margo Beilby misses her husband every day but says she supports voluntary assisted dying so people can die with dignity.
"He was worried about me being charged with being there - he wanted me to go off shopping and come home and find him dead," she told reporters on Tuesday.
"I said after 51 years of marriage I wasn't going to let him die on his own.
"He mixed the drug up, he drank it down, he drank a glass of port, he lay back in his chair and went to sleep with me sitting beside him holding his hand."
Ms Beilby said her son should have been there.
The West Australian government will introduce voluntary assisted dying legislation in parliament later this year.
A 13-member expert panel, chaired by former WA governor Malcolm McCusker, has released a discussion paper and is calling for public comment.
Sessions will be held in April and May in Perth, Bunbury, Kalgoorlie, Geraldton and Broome, and people who cannot attend can lodge written submissions.
WA health minister Roger Cook said the aim was to assist the development of workable legislation, not to argue for or against voluntary assisted dying.
"It's a debate not just for the medical professions - it's a debate for everyone about how we create a more compassionate, more progressive society."
The call for comment follows a parliamentary committee that received about 700 submissions and held 81 public hearings.
The inquiry found voluntary euthanasia should be possible for people experiencing "grievous and irremediable suffering" from a progressive terminal, chronic or neurodegenerative condition.
Mr McCusker said the legislation must be safe from undue coercion.
"Who is to determine whether the death is imminent? Who is to determine whether the pain is unendurable?"
MPs will have a conscience vote and Premier Mark McGowan urged his colleagues to address the issue on its merits.
"Don't be frightened to be brave. Do the right thing by people who are in pain, who are dying," he said.
"The community wants this. Its time has come."
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