Bobby was an extraordinary husband, father, son, brother, soldier, and mentor among other things. Whether preparing his labrador retrievers for competitions or battling cancer, he always confronted life’s challenges with a characteristic resolve and faithful optimism. He loved life and did his best to make sure that those around him were having a good time as well.

Given his characteristic kindness and good-humored nature, it came as a shock when in the summer of 2020 Bobby began exhibiting depressive symptoms for the first time, along with unusual cognitive issues. Throughout the remainder of the year and into the winter of 2021, his symptoms multiplied rapidly as doctors struggled to understand what was wrong. The situation grew more dire with each passing day, as every diagnosis turned out to be a misdiagnosis and every treatment failed to stop the progression of his illness. 

After four months of incessant testing, trips to the emergency room, stays at different hospitals, and countless conversations with perplexed medical professionals, we received a diagnosis of the exceedingly rare Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (CJD). The unfortunate timing of the diagnosis was such that any hope for a recovery was taken away from us at the very point at which communication with Bobby was becoming nearly impossible. He passed on April 28, 2021, a mere three weeks after his diagnosis. 

CJD is a particularly horrific and always fatal illness for which there is no current treatment or cure. Witnessing Bobby’s battle with CJD and going through our own struggle to care for him made us realize the importance of supporting research related to this disease, in hopes that one day an earlier diagnosis, treatment, and cure for CJD might be possible.