Ramblings from a fellow secret service agent [Grebel] ;)

I got to know Jake when our rooms at Grebel were somehow chosen directly across from each other. It was the fall of 1995 and I believe Jake was starting his 2a term in Electrical, while I was starting 2b in Systems. For the bunch of us (feel free to comment) it was probably our best term in university if you discount the academic side of things. I don't know how I managed to pass that term, however Jake and Mikey (Jake's roommate) never had any issue ... in fact Mikey's the only person I know who avoided attending classes after midterms and then would basically stay up 2 days straight, read through the calculus text and ace the exam, good thing they don't test for caffeine levels eh Mikey?

A group of us formed the secret service, mostly as a gag, to protect the Grebel student president, Graham Wall from the dangers of a Mennonite college.

From left to right we've got Mike Brubacher, Ron Roth, Jake, Myself and Jaby Jacob (we're holding Jimmy) -- honourary members were Roobs and Eric Simon. With many other friends from Conrad Grebel we shaped each others' faith, values, aspirations and dreams while having the time of our lives. A bunch of us met our future spouses through this adventure; interesting how Grebel's done that for so many.

This past week while devastating, has been rich with memories. We've been reliving those Grebel memories from 13 years ago. Like the late night talks trying to devise the ultimate prank that would enshrine us into Grebel lore. We thought we came close with the Styrofoam cup prank, but institutions don't have memories, those are only found in it's inhabitants. Prank honourable mentions by the secret service would have to be Ron and

Bob Hillhouse's collaborative love letter to Shauna Lee on behalf of Jaby; and subsequent disassemble of Bob's car and being placed in the cafeteria (funny how Ron was involved in both of those); the co-op term email marathons, hanging of the mannequin in the quad shower (no one ever said we had tact, sorry Sue).

After the Fall of '95 we spent one more term together at Grebel in the summer of '96. My memory from the summer was Eric Simon's psychotic camping trip. Alex mentioned the other day that Jake has refused to go camping ever since. Eric's slightly hardcore when it comes to the outdoors (check out his post-Secret Service adventures), so we're still not sure if Eric decided on purpose to plan the 100km paddle completely up stream through the windiest swamps that Algonquin has to offer. There were six of us on the trip, Ron and Roobs, Mikey and Jake and Eric and I. Basically all we did was paddle paddle paddle, eat, paddle another 8 hours and then sleep. The picture in my head from that trip is all of us standing in a circle laughing our heads off at the misery we were in. This mental picture was right after Jake and Mikey tried to paddle through a portage sign up some creek only to find out that there was a 25 foot drop. Then while bush-whacking back to the portage trail they got caught in a snap thunderstorm with Mikey narrowly escaping a lightening strike. It was a good thing they were carrying their aluminium Outers Club special when a nearby tree was smoked while Mikey was standing on its roots; nothing funnier than the sight and smell of Mikey's electrifying shock ... it was either laugh or cry. The trip ended, thank god, and we all enjoyed a collection of Cuban stogies. If Jabe had come we would've had pictures :)

After the summer of '96 we moved out of Grebel and into the dilapidated 318 Erb street house for the Winter of '97 (Eric's stereo removed most of the plaster on the ceiling of the room below it). It was there that we experienced the Kitchen Jake ... this guy was a kitchen clean freak. Mikey's still in amazement of how many times he'd (Mikey) come in, pull a loaf of bread out of the cupboard, then reach for the peanut butter and jam only to look back see that the bread was gone, with Jake having already put it away.

For me another special time was the Summer of '97 as I married Melissa. Jake hosted the guys at his cottage (basically the secret service were the groom's men) for a breakfast of steak and eggs (I'm pretty sure that Kate cooked it up) followed by a football game. Before marching off to the church, Lee lent me his socks (who knew the tux didn't come with them:)

As school started to wind down for us, we began to move our separate ways, occasionally getting together for one of our weddings or a cottage weekend. (For me getting married put a bit of distance as I became a secret service alumni) Jabe's wedding in NYC was definitely memorable as we played follow that cab with our host Mark Hogan. Then we all checked out the urinals (no joke, you could pee into a waterfall ... definitely helps) at the hotel Jake and Alex were staying at in Manhattan.

[I do remember in the Fall of '99 Jake giving us some financial advice, 'don't buy rim stock ... it's overvalued' ... ah thanks Jake ;) ]

Throughout these memories Jake was constant; intense, honest, encouraging, passionate and caring to all those around him. He always threw himself into his pursuits with everything he had (James Schellenberg ... do you have any of the movie scripts that you and Jake wrote?). With Jake's passing, although heart wrenching, he's given us a gift. The threads of our stories are no longer diverging but converging; renewing bonds, sharing memories and making new friendships with the diverse collection of people that Jake cared so deeply for. Jake, thank you for this gift, I only wish you were with us to enjoy the wealth of relationships that you're continuing to build.