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Ohio University honors Canfield native who would have graduated from medical school this month
CANFIELD
James “Jimmie” Jarvis Jr. should have been walking on-stage to accept a diploma for a medical degree from Ohio University this month.
Instead, Jarvis’ family and friends made the trip to Athens to attend a dedication ceremony in his honor.
Jarvis, 25, died June 27, 2014, after a 2012 motorcycle accident that left him with a traumatic brain injury from which he never recovered. He was a 2007 Canfield High School graduate and a 2011 Youngstown State University graduate.
The accident occurred two weeks before Jarvis was set to begin his second year of medical school.
“They called my husband and said they wanted us to come down there for the graduation ceremony,” said Janice Jarvis, Jimmie’s mother. “I said, ‘I really don’t want to go’ ... because I couldn’t imagine myself sitting there through 140 and some names and not hearing Jimmie’s name.”
She’s glad they did, however, because Jimmie got a ceremony of his own. The OU Heritage College of Osteopathic Medicine, an alumni and friends organization, and the class of 2015 dedicated the James K. “Jimmie” Jarvis Jr. Medical Student Study Den.
“We actually had no idea that this was going to happen. The class had been planning something like this since last year,” said Stephanie Putzier, Jimmie’s older sister.
“We were pretty shocked and honored that Jimmie’s class put something together in memory of him. Because, obviously, he must have had an impact on his peers,” she said.
The ceremony was “pretty emotional, and really heart-warming,” Putzier said. “There were about 150 people crammed in this little area. ... It was just awesome.”
“It was totally amazing,” said Janice, who broke down in tears when she saw the portrait of her son smiling down from one wall of the open, well-lit room that she envisions as a quiet spot for students to get away from hectic campus life.
“I was kind of glad they didn’t put 1989 to 2014,” she said of the plaque under the portrait, which reads, “Never stop smiling!,” a reference to Jimmie’s sunny demeanor.
Jimmie’s family – which also includes his brother, Andrew, and his father, Jim, as well as his godmother and a friend – heard from many people about the impact he had on the class of 2015.
People told them “pretty much everything that we knew about him – about how awesome he was, and his work ethic and his study habits and how he made everyone smile,” Putzier said. “And that he really loved Ohio University and his time there.”
The ceremony came less than two months before the one-year anniversary of Jimmie’s death.
“We’re definitely coping better,” Putzier said. “It’s still tough at times, but we just remember all the good times we had with him and it makes it a little easier.”