James R. Beazell

James R. Beazell

James Ross Beazell, 59, of Charlottesville, Virginia, passed away peacefully on Thursday evening, January 20, 2011, after a courageous battle with metastatic melanoma.

He is survived by Elizabeth (Lee) Beazell, his wife of 23 years, his daughter, Stewart age 20 and his son, Ross age 18.

Jim was a physical therapist, site coordinator and residency director at the Musculoskeletal Center at the University of Virginia-HealthSouth outpatient clinic in Charlottesville, Virginia. Prior to moving to Charlottesville in 1998 he had been administrator and site coordinator at HealthSouth facilities in both San Francisco and Santa Rosa, California, a dedicated employee for HealthSouth Corporation for over 23 years. Jim was recipient of the HealthSouth 2003 Clinician of the Year Award.

Jim was perhaps best known in Virginia for founding Orthopedic Manual Therapy Seminars (OMTS) in 2002 and teaching in the OMTS Long Term Orthopedic Manual Therapy Course from 2002 until 2010. In 2009, the OMTS long term course expanded with Jim's guidance into the University of Virginia-HealthSouth Orthopedic Residency, the first APTA accredited Orthopedic Residency Program in Virginia, in 2009.

Jim was an engaging and entertaining teacher. He shared his passion for patient care, clinical education and research with untiring enthusiasm. He was a "walking PubMed". Through his teaching and publications, Jim has helped many physical therapists become better clinicians.

He received his Bachelor of Physical Education Degree magna cum laude from San Francisco State University and his Masters of Science Degree in Physical Therapy from University of Southern California in 1981. He obtained his Doctorate of Physical Therapy from Virginia Commonwealth University in 2007. He was a Fellow in the American Academy of Orthopedic Manual Physical Therapy and was board certified as an Orthopedic Clinical Specialist by the APTA. Jim was an active member of the American Physical Therapy Association, American Academy of Orthopedic Manual Physical Therapy, Virginia Physical Therapy Association, and National Athletic Trainers Association.

Jim was born in Watsonville, California, on April 25, 1949, a son of Richard and Hilda Beazell of Sebastopol, California; and the brother of Jan Nicholas and Brian Beazell of Windsor, California.

Jim was an avid cyclist and member of the Charlottesville Racing Club, the Charlottesville Bicycling Club, Charlottesville Area Mountain Bike Club as well as former competitive cyclist with both CRC and the Santa Rosa Cycling Team in California. He played rugby for the Los Angeles and San Francisco Rugby Clubs then served as the trainer for SFRC and both the Pacific Coast and USA Rugby teams respectively. He lived life to its fullest. He loved to ride his bike commuting to work every day and spending Saturday mornings riding with his friends. He adored his children and spent much of his free time mentoring them and teaching them the ways of the world. He will be deeply missed by Lee, Stewart and Ross as well as his team mates and neighbors far and near.

A celebration of Jim's life will be held from 2 until 4 p.m. Sunday, February 6, 2011, at Hamiltons' Restaurant, in Charlottesville, Virginia.

In lieu of flowers donations can be made in memory of James Ross Beazell, University of Virginia Cancer Center, c/o Scott Karr, Health System Development Office, P.O. Box 800773, Charlottesville, VA 22908.


This obituary was originally published in the Daily Progress.