“Obviously Jim had a lot of energy, it showed in everything that he did and was immediately obvious upon looking at him physically. Fortunately for those who had the chance to meet him was that coupled with this energy was a great desire to help others and unmatched generosity. When my wife and I were getting ready to move to a new apartment during our last year at RIC we woke to the news that two of our friends that were supposed to help us move were sick and couldn’t make it and that the maintenance man from our building who we had hired to help us for the day got called into work.

This left us with few options; we had nobody to help us. Although moving is a favor typically reserved for only the closest of friendships Jim had offered his help to us the day before. I had little choice but to call in the favor. He didn’t answer my call and so I left a message. I assumed that, like most people faced with the option of spending their weekend moving someone they had just met, he would call me the next day and apologize for missing my message.

Jim showed up an hour or so later. He had just done a “leg work-out” and ran like 10 miles. He spent the whole day and the better part of the night with us, helping to move our apartment, literally lifting and carrying thousands of pounds in and out of the truck. He did this after first waking up that morning and working out and then jogging almost a half marathon. My wife and I were so grateful for his help, we really didn’t know what we would have done without him. We sat and cried together today when we heard the news.”


Daniel Heller, MD
RIC Alum

Richmond, Virginia