Laguna beach, CA - James Ewbank Hall

June 2, 1941 - December 26, 2025

James Ewbank Hall—known to most simply as Jim—lived a life defined by intellectual curiosity, loyalty, and an unfailing commitment to showing up for the people he loved. A devoted husband, son, brother, uncle, friend, colleague, mentor, and partner, Jim's presence was steady and generous. If you mattered to him, he was there—often wearing one of his trademark, slightly nerdy science-themed T-shirts, smiling proudly from the audience. Jim died on December 26 after a long illness. He was surrounded by his family.

Jim was born on June 2, 1941, in Sewanee, Tennessee, to Mary Macaire Ewbank Hall and George Johnson Hall. He spent part of his early childhood in Hendersonville, North Carolina, at his grandmother Florence Schaeffer Ewbank's home, before his family moved in 1946 to Piney Point, Maryland. By 1947, Jim was in Palo Alto, California, followed by a move to Santa Barbara in 1948 when his father became rector of All Saints by the Sea Episcopal Church. After the death of Jim's mother, his father married Sarah McKinstry Hall, a native of Santa Barbara.

Jim attended Crane Country Day School, where a gifted science and math teacher, F. Arnold Lejeune, helped spark a passion that would last a lifetime. He later attended The Webb School in Claremont, California—a place that profoundly shaped his intellectual and personal life. At Webb, Jim became deeply involved in the Peccary Society under the mentorship of Raymond Alf. Each summer, Jim and a small group of like-minded boys ventured into the wilderness on paleontology expeditions, hunting fossils under the sun. He always returned sunburned, joyful, and brimming with enthusiasm. His bond with Webb endured throughout his life through ongoing involvement, attendance at ceremonies, and generous support. In 2012, Jim and his beloved wife, Jean, established the Hall Family Scholarship, reflecting their gratitude and belief in the power of education.

Jim went on to attend Pomona College, where he majored in Astronomy. During his freshman year, he met Jean Rogers—the beginning of a love story that would inspire everyone who knew them. Jim graduated with honors from Pomona in June 1963. Two months later, in August, he married Jean, and together they began their next great adventure at the University of California, Riverside, where Jim earned his Ph.D. in Biophysics in 1968.

Jim's education was funded in part by his participation in ROTC. After graduation, he served in the U.S. Army reserve. Only months after receiving his PhD., Jim was sent to Vietnam where he served a tour as a Captain in the Signal Corps. Jean—ever resourceful and fiercely devoted—found a wrinkle in the Army regulations and procured an early discharge for Jim by securing a teaching position for him at a parochial school. That story became emblematic of their partnership: loving, clever, steadfast, and deeply mutual.

Jim later taught at Duke University while Jean taught at Cal State Fullerton, maintaining a cross-country relationship that underscored their shared resilience and commitment. In 1978, Jim joined the faculty at the University of California, Irvine, where he taught and maintained a research laboratory until his retirement in 2018. A Professor of Physiology & Biophysics in the School of Medicine, Jim was a rigorous and widely published scientist. His lab made several significant breakthroughs including how gap junctions form and assemble, the role of hemichannels, connexin proteins, aquaporins in the Lens and the cause of cataracts. He also led breakthrough research on how amyloid beta oligomers in Alzheimer's disease may work by forming channels in cell membranes.

At UC Irvine Medical School, Jim was a respected colleague whose intellect was matched by kindness, humor and humility.

Beyond academia, Jim's love of the universe never waned. He and Jean read everything, were devoted theatergoers, and loved music and art. They were the most interesting people imaginable. Jim and Jean traveled across the globe to witness astronomical events, especially solar eclipses, kept Jim's telescope close at hand, and remained endlessly curious about the cosmos. Closer to home, Jim took to the skies in his own plane, delighting in flight and the perspective it offered, and the study it required.

Jim and Jean were inseparable: adventurous, scholarly, cultured, well-traveled, quirky, and deeply generous. Their marriage was a model of partnership, shared wonder, and enduring love.

Jim had a special devotion to children as well as his students—especially the children of friends and family—whom he treated as his own. He showed up for everything: basketball games, theater performances, graduations, celebrations of life.

Jim will long be remembered for his brilliance, his loyalty, his wonder, and his way of making people feel seen. He showed us that a life well lived is one marked not only by discovery and achievement, but by love, curiosity, doses of hilarious eccentricity and good humor and the simple grace of showing up—again and again.

We want to express our gratitude to the caregivers at Home Care who lovingly tended to JIm.

A celebration of life is planned for March 14 at 1 pm in Laguna Beach. Contact sarahgordon4@gmail.com for details.

In lieu of flowers donations can be sent to the Raymond Alf Museum of Paleontology at the Webb School, Pomona,CA