James Stanley Purcell

   James Stanley Purcell was born prematurely on July 25, 1989, and died prematurely at the age of 35 in May 2025. As a child, it was evident that James was naturally gifted. He loved to snowboard and inline skate, awing his family and friends with soaring backflips. As a young artist, he drew beautifully with no formal training. He was sharp, witty, and handsome.

   He loved spending his summers on the St. Lawrence River with his siblings and cousins, wakeboarding, swimming, and cliff jumping. For around 15 years, it felt—at least to those around him—that life came easy for James. To those who knew James then, his potential felt both infinite and definite.

   Shortly thereafter though, opiates found James. What followed was a devastating two-decade battle with substance use disorder that stole years of promise from him, but also from the friends and family that cared deeply for James and fought for his recovery. The pain, confusion, and heartache that shaped those years are difficult to fully describe to those who have not had the misfortune of experiencing the ugly, impossible disease of addiction. 

   Even so, addiction never fully extinguished who James was at his core. James graduated magna cum laude from the University of San Diego. He also had a profound desire to help others, particularly those who, like him, suffered from substance use disorder. One of James’s proudest accomplishments was his work at the Chris Atwood Foundation (CAF) in Fairfax, Virginia, a non-profit focused on harm reduction. During his tenure at CAF, James and colleagues distributed over 150,000 doses of Narcan, and contributed to over 2,500 “reversals”, or lives saved. James was also extremely entrepreneurial, spending the last years of his life creating an independent and successful online business.

   Beyond his work, there were other glimpses of unaltered joy, especially as he traveled the world. His family saw his signature, dimpled grin reappear as he surfed in Puerto Rico, Brazil, and Barbados, and as he bombed down the Canadian Rockies on his snowboard late last year. James loved to dance, cook, and read voraciously and widely. He had an innate sense of style and was always the best-dressed in the room.  

   Despite these moments of reprieve, James’s battle with substance use disorder ultimately ended his life. We share these truths to honor his complicated, difficult, and beautiful story.

   James is survived by his mother, Maria, his father, Mark, and by his siblings, Andrew, Anna, and Sam. He was predeceased by his sister, Lily. 

   A private celebration of life is scheduled for this summer.

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