St. Pius / St. Leo School continues to rally around family of student who died of brain tumor

Pam Moran believes that one of the most painful things about the death of a child is worrying whether he or she will be forgotten. After her son, Jimmy, a fifth-grader at St. Pius X / St. Leo School in Omaha, died of an aggressive childhood cancer, she was quickly reassured that for Jimmy, that would not be the case.

“Any parent who has lost a child will tell you that the most painful thing after losing the child is people forgetting about him,” Moran said. “The support we’ve received from Pius reassures me that that won’t happen soon.”

“They have little touches of Jimmy everywhere, like a tree in his honor, a decorated door in the 4th grade hallway, and the Jimmy Moran Memorial Scholarship,” she said.

The Jimmy Moran Memorial Scholarship is awarded each year near Jimmy’s birthday. It recognizes a student who honors Jimmy’s memory by caring for others, showing kindness to peers, lifting spirits and putting others’ needs first. The scholarship is funded through events such as a school dress-down day that raise awareness of pediatric brain cancer.

His classmates, now in eighth grade, wear sweatshirts with his handwriting on the back, featuring the phrase “Be happy for no reason,” an item on a to-do list Jimmy made during one of his hospital stays. This spring, the school has invited Pam and her husband, Nick, and Jimmy’s older sister, CeCe, to attend the graduation, where they will receive an honorary diploma.

Jimmy Moran

“At Catholic schools, we teach students the Catholic faith, and we teach them empathy and how important it is to keep memories alive,” said Kelli Swift, a kindergarten teacher at St. Pius / St. Leo School who taught Jimmy. “We want to celebrate Jimmy and rally around the Moran family, and we will continue to do that. Pius is a special place, and we would do that for anyone.”

Swift is not surprised that Jimmy’s memory lives on at the school. She said he taught his classmates important lessons about how to show Christ’s love for others through their actions, which they did – praying for Jimmy every day at school, visiting him and holding drive-by parades by his house when he was too sick to come to school.

Although Jimmy’s classmates are graduating this year, Swift said, he will remain part of the school community because younger students have heard his story. Many wear t-shirts sold in a fundraiser when Jimmy was diagnosed with DIPG.

“Kids who never knew Jimmy, they ask their parents to buy them those shirts. And they talk about Jimmy. They say, ‘He’s in heaven.’ ‘He was a fun kid.’ ‘This is his dog on my shirt.’”

The Moran family is paying forward the love and support they receive from their school and parish community, raising money for childhood brain cancer research. The family, with the help of Swift and others, holds an annual fundraiser “Carnival for the Cure” in Jimmy’s honor for the Nebraska Chapter of the Cure Starts Now – Jimmy the Great. To date, they have raised more than $300,000.

They are preparing for the fourth “Carnival for the Cure,” on April 18 from 5 to 10 p.m. at The Admiral Theater near downtown Omaha. The event – which is open to the public – includes raffles, carnival games, a bounce house, a silent auction and more. To learn more, buy tickets, or donate, people can visit https://events.thecurestartsnow.org/jimmy-the-great-presents-carnival-for-the-cure/.

READ MORE FROM THE CATHOLIC VOICE: