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Family, friends remember Jimmie Jarvis as fun-loving, selfless person
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James “Jimmie” Jarvis plays with his puppy Maggie in May 2012. Jarvis died in June of this year and is remembered by those close to him as having a dynamic, energetic personality.
By Jordyn Grzelewski
Canfield
Talk to the family and friends of Jimmie Jarvis, and they will all mention one thing about Jimmie that stood out more than any other: his smile.
“Wherever you would go, the whole room would light up with his bright smile,” said his mother, Janice Jarvis.
James “Jimmie” Jarvis Jr. died June 27 at age 25 after a 2012 accident that left him with a traumatic brain injury from which he never recovered.
In the weeks after his death, his family and friends recalled his smile, his ability to make them laugh, his fun-loving nature, his intelligence, his love for his family, how deeply caring he was and, above all, how he lived his 25 years to the fullest. They also recalled the difficult months during which he fought for his life, and pondered the legacy he left behind him.
A lifelong Canfield resident, Jarvis graduated from Canfield High School in 2007 and from Youngstown State University in 2011 with a degree in biological sciences. In 2011, Jarvis started medical school at the Ohio University Heritage College of Osteopathic Medicine. He was two weeks away from starting his second year of medical school when he was in a motorcycle accident Aug. 5, 2012.
That Saturday, Jimmie told his mom he was taking his bike out for a last ride, as he was giving it away Monday.
During the ride, Jimmie gave his helmet to his girlfriend, who lost her balance and fell from the bike. When Jimmie stopped to help her, he was thrown off of the bike and hit his head. A minor accident resulted in a traumatic brain injury that left Jimmie in a coma for several weeks, after which time he was in and out of hospitals and rehab centers.
During the months between the accident and his death, his mother visited him four times a day, and his father rushed straight from work every day to visit. His sister, brother, friends and other family members were constantly by his side. His mother never gave up hope that her son would pull through, but was frustrated by the lack of medical-care options available to him.
“It seemed like any place we wanted him to go, that would help him, that was able to give him the help he needed for a traumatic brain injury patient, the insurance company wouldn’t hear it. They didn’t feel he needed any kind of rehab,” she said.
“I still never gave up, though. ... I knew anything he did in this life, he wanted to do to the best of his ability,” she said. “I always told him, ‘You’ve always been a fighter and you’re going to pull through.’”
“I just believed in my heart that he was going to be OK. ... I just believed that he was going to have that miracle,” she said.
But for his family and friends, Jimmie is defined not by his accident but by his enthusiasm for life.
His mother recalled memories of Jimmie dancing at the annual Macedonia conventions he loved to attend, long car rides to Florida for family vacations when he would keep them laughing for the whole trip, the time the family stayed up all night decorating his new apartment at Ohio University and the many occasions when the two of them would go shopping together. His father, Jim, remembered play-wrestling with Jimmie when he was a kid, and how Jimmie would take up the things his dad did, such as playing guitar, and studying math and science.
“He was a lot like me. And like his mother! I could see both sides of our family, there’s no doubt about it,” said his father, Jim. “He was the best of both sides of the family.”
Since his death, his family has honored Jimmie in any way they can. His sister, Stephanie, who got married just days after the funeral, paid tribute to her brother at her wedding with a special drink called the “Jimbo” and by playing a song in his honor. She and her bridal party also wore “Jimmie Strong” wristbands, which Jimmie’s aunt and cousin made. The whole family, along with many of the 1,000-plus people who came to his calling hours, wears the wristbands as a way to remember Jimmie.
Just weeks before Jimmie’s death, his family celebrated a birth: the child of Jimmie’s best friend and cousin, Peter Brager. Before Jimmie’s death, Peter named Jimmie the godfather of his son.
“He still is [the godfather],” Brager said. “He’s still looking out for him every day.”