| CONDOLENCES (GuestBook) |
1/13/2020 Lo Baker
Litchfield, NH ,
I am so sorry to hear of the loss of Jim. My heart goes out to you and your family.
1/14/2020 Joyce Gauthier
Sterling, CT,
I am so sorry for your loss, Ellen. I never had the honor to meet Jim, but he sounds like a wonderful person who helped so many people in his career.
1/15/2020 Kathy Clement
Manchester, NH, United States
I'm so very sorry of the loss of Jim. I am grateful that I had the pleasure of meeting him several times up at Joan's, and enjoyed our chats as he watched me wrangle the dogs in and out of the pond. My thoughts are with you and your family at this difficult time.
1/19/2020 Gordon & Elaine Pierce
Danville, Vermont, US
Ellen, you are like a daughter to us, so when you married Jim, he became our son. You and Jim did so much with-and for Seth and Joel when they were kids, and again when Seth was deployed. We love having you come for Christmas annually, and we were deeply saddened when Jim was too ill for you to make the journey this year to have his Boursin on dark pumpernickel, while I ate mine on rye! He was perhaps the kindest, gentlest man I have ever met-even though he loved to pick on me because I was older. It seemed so unfair that he had to suffer so long, and then after finally receiving the kidney transplant, to be again assaulted by more illness. You shall be sorely missed, Jim. Gordie & Elaine; Seth, Porshe, & Awni; Joel, Karey, Landon, Michael, Kieran, Isabel. The Pierces
1/19/2020 Nancy C. Joyce, Ph.D.
Clearwater, Florida, USA
It is with deep sadness that I write today of the loss of a wonderful friend and colleague. Jim and I shared neighboring labs from the time of my coming to Schepens in September, 1987 to my retirement at the end of August, 2011. Both of us were continually enthusiastic about our respective corneal research and we had many, many interesting and informative conversations. We only scientifically collaborated on a few topics, but we shared interest in the activity and function of various corneal cells. We also had chances to interact with our respective post-docs and technicians and positive relationships remain today. Each Christmas, all the members of our two labs would go to a restaurant for brunch to celebrate the holiday. We had some very enjoyable times together. We also would meet for dinner at various ARVO meetings. After my retirement, we would meet with a small group of faculty and friends to have lunch at Scampo at the Liberty Hotel, which gave us a chance to catch up on what everyone was doing. I watched Jim struggle bravely with his diabetes and couldn’t get over how well he continued to do in the lab when he was going for dialysis and feeling relatively weak. I give him a lot of credit for the years that he bore up under this difficult disease and hope he gained a sense of pleasure and enjoyment from his efforts to live a “normal” lifestyle. I send my heartfelt condolences to Ellen Zieske. I’m sorry that I will not be able to attend Jim’s funeral service, because we are in Florida for the winter season, but will be thinking of you on Wednesday. Regards, Nancy C. Joyce, Ph.D. Emeritus Senior Scientist
1/21/2020 M. Elizabeth Fini
Boston, MA, United States
Jim was one of the first individuals that I met when I started as a faculty member at the Schepens Eye Research Institute in 1988. We were both recruited to eye research by Dr. Ilene Gipson, a person who made a big difference in both our lives. While we were from different parts of the country, we discovered that Jim was close with one of my high school classmates, who was his best friend in college. We shared an office for awhile. Jim was just learning to type at the time and he practiced every morning. He also liked to play computer games with Ellen! Jim approached me about a collaboration early on and we published several papers together. He is an excellent scientist and also one of the sweetest persons you could ever meet. It was a joy to know him.
1/21/2020 Vickery Trinkaus-Randall
Boston, MA, United States
Jim and I were postdoc fellows together at Schepens and remained good friends over the years. Jim was always that person that you could randomly call and talk about an idea you had or data that you had just gotten or were mulling about. He was insane about simplifying what you were thinking to its core elements. Jim fought for a very long time and he was so excited to get his kidney and we all hoped and prayed but he did not get the magic bullet that should have come along with it. I talked to Jim the weekend before he became so ill and again he was really excited to talk about ideas. I will miss him terribly. Ellen - I know you were his best friend and I always heard about the dogs.
1/21/2020 Shirley Achilles
Valrico, Florida, USA
Everett and I were so sorry to learn that Jim had passed away. He was such a kind soul and so good to us, especially when Everett had his liver transplant. He was as devoted to Ellen as she was to him. Farewell, Jim.
1/30/2020 Sarah Gray
Washington, DC, United States
I met Jim in 2012. My infant son Thomas died in 2010, my husband & I able to donate his corneas for medical research. I later learned the corneas went to Schepens Eye Research Institute (SERI). When I was in Boston on a business trip in 2012, my mother & I basically walked in off the street & asked for a tour, that's when I met Jim. He explained that he was likely the one who requested corneas from NDRI & received this donation. He thanked me & offered to answer my questions. He was so kind to us. Coincidentally, he shared with me that he got a diagnosis that day. Dr. Zieske is now part of my family's history & always will be. I hope he is learning all the weird geeky cornea things he was wondering on Earth & it's like a big ARVO in the sky for him. Maybe he's meeting Thomas. My thoughts and prayers are with his family. I am so sorry for this huge loss.
8/14/2020 Robert C Henry
Tewksbury, MA,
I am so sorry to hear of Jim's passing. I worked with Jim at Schepens for many years. He was a very nice person. My condolences to his family and friends.