Jim Memorial

Dear FACETS Family,

FACETS has some sad news to pass along about one of our past leaders. We recently learned that James Jerome “Jim” Brigl, passed away on November 6, 2024 in Fort Wayne, IN after a hard-fought battle with cancer. Jim served as FACETS deputy director of operations from 1999-2001, working alongside founder Linda Wimpey. He moved on to pursue executive director positions at housing organizations in DC and Wheaton, MD. When Linda retired in 2005, Jim returned to FACETS to accept the second chief executive officer position—a role he carried out until 2009.

Jim was known for his compassion, kindness, and affinity for helping our most underserved community members. “Jim was a person of strong faith, and I saw that in his work with me at FACETS,” Linda Wimpey wrote. “He loved people and was able to comfort people who were hurting from homelessness.”

His bachelors of social work was his foundation for further honing his skills to work with people in need of shelter and housing services, as well as mental health and substance abuse treatment programs in Alexandria and Fairfax. He earned a Masters of Divinity from Catholic Theological Union in Chicago and was most recently serving as a priest at St. Mary Magdala Spiritual Center in Fort Wayne. Even in the last few months of his life, Jim wanted to seek out people experiencing homelessness and listen to their stories to let them know they were valued as a person.

Please join FACETS in sending our deepest sympathies to his family, friends, and all who supported and loved him. Leave a memory or message about Jim here.