When the Florida Society of OMS announced its tribute appeal honoring Dr. Jim and Judy Davis in November 2021, Dr. Chuck Weber was an enthusiastic contributor. “I’ve known and respected Jim Davis for years and was pleased to make a gift to the OMS Foundation in his honor,” Dr. Weber said.
In early January 2022, Dr. Weber and Dr. Thomas Dodson proposed to the Washington State Society of OMS a similar appeal to honor the Society’s “first couple” – Dr. O. Ross and Sheryl Beirne, who had recently retired after decades of leadership and service to the University of Washington and WSSOMS communities.
Drs. Jasjit Dillon and Patricia Kelly signed on to contact graduates and faculty of UW’s OMS residency program as well as current and retired WSSOMS members, asking for donations to the OMS Foundation in honor of the Beirnes. It was a herculean effort, and the results were appropriately spectacular. Tribute gifts arrived from OMSs across the country who had trained under Dr. Beirne, often accompanied by heartfelt stories attesting to his impact on the specialty. By mid-February, more than $105,000 had been contributed to the Foundation in tribute to Dr. and Mrs. Beirne.
In October, the team organized a gathering of the WSSOMS and UW communities to raise a glass to the Beirnes and present a ceremonial check to the OMS Foundation.
“This was a wonderful opportunity to recognize and honor the Beirnes’ decades of service and myriad contributions to the Washington OMS community,” said Dr. Dodson. “At the same time, our gifts to the Foundation will ultimately strengthen our specialty. It absolutely was worth the effort; it seemed like the perfect capstone to the careers of these two wonderful people.”