Thank you to everyone who attended Jim’s funeral on Sunday, July 21. We will share a link of the Zoom recording over email when it’s available. If you’re not signed up for our emails, please click here to sign up.

With heavy hearts, we share that our dear Jim Plews-Ogan, co-founder of the Hummingbird Fund, passed away peacefully at home on the morning of July 3rd. He was surrounded by his loving family – Peggy, William, Erin, Hal, Monika, and baby Rowan.

Jim leaves a legacy of love, humor, humility, and hope in action. Jim was a beloved pediatrician who cared for families in Charlottesville for decades. His practice was an incredibly unique model, which included home visits, in-depth discussions, and the care of children with medically complex conditions. He never hesitated to answer a Sunday evening phone call or talk a parent through a middle-of-the-night crisis. Kindness was his currency and he spent it freely.

After being diagnosed with ALS in November of 2021 and retiring from his pediatric practice in early 2022, Jim co-founded the Hummingbird Fund. Under Jim’s leadership, the Hummingbird Fund has raised more than $400,000 to fund ALS research, access, advocacy, and innovation.

As we share the news of his passing, we remember Jim’s beautiful, generous, and deeply faithful life. A member of St. Paul’s Memorial Church of Charlottesville, VA, Jim leaned heavily on his faith especially as ALS began to take his ability to move and communicate freely. He was a loving and devoted family man whose spirit and memory lives on in the lives of his family and children, as well as the many families and children that he cared for as a physician.

Jim was a terrific writer. His blog – which he continued to write using Eye Gaze technology, even after he lost his ability to type – included posts imbued with humor, humanity, and inspiration. You can read his writing on that blog linked here.

In founding the Hummingbird Fund, Jim made an important and lasting impact on the world of ALS – his perspective, writings, and fundraising efforts helped to advance innovative ways of approaching and coping with debilitating diseases like ALS. As in all aspects of his life, Jim led with kindness and compassion. His life and his work will continue to be significant for many, many years to come. And it’s now our job to lead in this way.

Jim, we love you, we miss you, and we will never forget you. And we will also carry on the work that you began.

A service will be held at St. Paul’s Memorial Church in Charlottesville on Sunday, July 21st. More details will be announced in the coming days.