On May 31st our dad left earth side to join his parents in heaven. This happened just 9 weeks after he was preliminarily diagnosed with Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease. Two weeks before this, we would have said he was perfectly healthy. He was living in northern Michigan, skiing, snowmobiling, shoveling snow, traveling, and enjoying retirement with his wife, Carole.  Carole had started to notice some minor neurological symptoms like irritability and forgetfulness. After he experienced some vision disturbances, which sent him to the hospital, and then after a few long weeks of tests, hospital stays, and many doctors, we had a confirmed diagnosis of Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease (CJD). Then at just 61 years old, one year after retiring, our dad passed. 

CJD is a rapidly progressive neurodegenerative disease caused by misfolded proteins that damage the neurons. CJD is incredibly rare, affecting 1 in 1 million people. The cause of sporadic CJD is widely unknown and with no treatment available, it is invariably fatal. Witnessing the day to day progression of this disease take everything from our dad was staggering. Within 1 week he had severe forgetfulness, paranoia, and other psychiatric disturbances. By week 5 he was already losing his balance, dexterity, and more. It was brutal and devastating to watch our dad quickly slip away from us, decline, struggle, and suffer. 

Anyone who knew my dad knows he was larger than life. This disease affects 1 in a million, but our dad was 1 in 100 million. My dad made everyone laugh, was the friendliest and most outgoing guy in any room, and always appreciated the beauty of life. Even as he lost his function he maintained his essence - he greeted everyone with a smile, asked their name and how they were, and was always trying to help people. Our dad was strength and the protector of his people. He gave us everything he could to see us succeed and support us. There are no words to describe how incredible he was.

There was nothing we could do to cure my dad of this horrible disease. All we could do was support and love him through it. The two months we lived through this disease was truly a nightmare. One of the small blessings through this was being able to see Dr James Mastrianni at the University of Chicago. Dr Mastrianni provided us with the most guidance, knowledge, and management we could have asked for. Dr Mastrianni is a renowned neurologist and an expert in memory disorders and neurodegenerative diseases. His research focuses specifically on human prion disease, including Creutzfeldt-Jakob. He has won numerous awards for the progress he is making. His lab has a fundraising goal of 2.3 million to bring his research to human clinical trials. So far, 1.8 million has been raised, and we would like to help get closer to the goal. Funding for research, specifically for rare diseases, is incredibly limited. The donations and funds raised by individuals really make a difference. 

We could not help my dad but we want to be part of the solution in preventing any families from having to endure this horrible disease. We know my dad would want the same. In memory and in honor of him we will continue to raise funds to support research to treat and cure CJD. Any donation would be meaningful to our family and our dad. We have created this donation page through the University of Chicago so donations can be made in our dad’s name. All donations go directly to the research of Dr. Mastrianni to develop a treatment for human prion diseases.

Thank you for taking the time to read about our dad, and thank you for any contributions! 

As our dad would say - PEACE & LOVE.

If you would like to mail a check, please make it payable to "University of Chicago Medicine" and send it to the following address:

University of Chicago Gift Administration

Support CJD Research for Jim Ritcey 

5235 S. Harper Court, 4th Floor

Chicago, IL 606015

In the memo please write "Support CJD Research for Jim Ritcey"