Missing You

I worked with Jake for only a brief period of time but I will not soon forget him.

I remember meeting Jake and my first impression was that this guy was definitely smarter than your average bear. He asked me things like "If there was one thing you could change about the patent system, what would it be?"

I remember during my first week at work, he was very eager to schedule training with me right away and offered to help me in any way he could. There would be no wasting of time with Jake.

I also remember how he would wear these brightly patterned socks and scarves, even with business suits. Wearing the same bland colors as everyone else just wasn't going to cut it for Jake. He was a unique individual, and not one who wanted to conform and be like everyone else.

The last time I saw Jake was during a team day outing in various spots around Toronto. I remember he was so thoughtful to stop into a BabyGap store to purchase something for little Stella. He was quite the doting father.

I do miss Jake and I still think about him quite a bit. I don't understand how this could happen to Jake, and I don't want it to happen to anyone else. He has inspired me to join Team In Training and raise awareness and funds for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society of Canada. I am training for the Rock'n'Roll Marathon and Half-Marathon to benefit LLS/LLSC, and I will be running in honor and in memory of Jake. All of us on Team In Training are raising funds to help find a cure for blood cancers. If anyone is interesed in contributing to this worthy cause, please visit http://my.e2rm.com/personalPage.aspx?SID=2047341. I hope Jake would be very proud.

Thanks for reading and for sharing.

Happy Birthday, Dude.

Miss you, man.

24 Hour Bike Ride for the Jake Sauer Memorial Fund

About a year ago, Morley Tooke organized a group of us to participate in the '24 hours of Summer Solstice' mountain bike event this weekend to "have fun and to honour our late friend Jake".

Five of us will take turns on a 17km course from noon to noon, rain or shine, day and night. Our team includes Morley Tooke, Ray Vanderveen, Brian Young and Gary Klassen.

Anyone who might like to sponsor us is welcome to visit the website below. Donations made to the KWCF from this page will be directed to the Jake Sauer Memorial Fund and will be used to support local cancer research, treatment, prevention and screening.

http://www.canadahelps.org/GivingPages/GivingPage.aspx?gpID=2109

From Trish Kee

I was Alex's classmate in Waterloo since first year and we graduated with our M.Arch in the same year in 2002. When Jake proposed to Alex in Rome, we as Alex's girlfriends, were so envious of her getting married to such a talented and handsom fellow. During my 2 years of sharing the same studio room with Alex doing our master thesis, Jake would appear in the room once in a while, either to pick up Alex and to have a few casual chat with us. He would always be glowing with energy, adventure and new invention. Back then, the BlackBurry was a novelty, and only the Sauer family knew how to operate them. Who would think that his contribution would reach all parts of the world.

Last week was Jake's 1st anniversary. I wrote to Alex. I feel relieved she wrote back to me with positive energy. A year has gone by, but when I look at the photos in Jake's blog, it was as if he never left.

Trish Kee
writing from Hong Kong
May 18 2008

Just reminiscing...

Sablet:



Brian's birthday party:

1st Annual Jake Ride

From the Waterloo Cycling Club:

"On May 3rd, 2008 a group of Jake Sauer's friends are getting together for a ride to remember Jake and kick off an Online auction of Jake's kit and gear to create a post secondary education fund for Jake's kids. More details will follow in short order. For now, the ride will start from and finish at the Flying Dog. The ride will head out to the west on some of Jake's favourite training roads and loop back to the Dog for some post ride beverages and food. Dutch treat. Total ride distance will be around 70km.

"Please note that the ride is not a WCC Club Ride. Anyone, member or not, is welcome to attend. Stay tuned for more details."

Here is a link to further details from the cycling club's website.

His memory lives on

I talked about Jake the other day to my class of high school students. I was trying to implore upon them the importance of living life to the fullest and never taking anything for granted. We read the article about Jake that was in the Record a few days after he died. I know it must have been hard for some 16 and 17 year old Arizona kids to relate to what I was trying to tell them. However, I think Jake's story hit home with quite a few of them. Jake, buddy, I wish you were here.

Jake's Birthday

I was never right, but always close. Every year, I'd send Jake a "Happy Birthday" email sometime in the middle of October, and I'd be wrong, without exception. Usually late, sometimes early.

It's that time now. I've been thinking about Jake quite a bit this last week, since I'm so used to sending him that email. Like that time when he was trying to grow his hair. For his birthday we kidnapped him, and ran blade-less clippers through his hair pretending to shave it off. Dude was deceivingly strong, and nearly ripped us to shreds. When it was safe for us to reappear, we celebrated properly.

Happy Birthday, man.

Concert: Explosive Blues: In Memory of Jake Sauer

Erin is also holding a benefit concert in Jake's memory. Ticket sales will go to the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society in Jake's name. You'll probably start to notice posters around town and in shops this weekend. The concert details are listed below:

Date: September 6, 2007
Location: Starlight
Tickets: $20 in advance / $25 at the door - All in support of the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society of Canada
Tickets Sales: Long & McQuade in Waterloo, Encore Records in Kitchener
Featuring: Mel Brown, Miss Angel, Shawn Kellerman, Steve Strongman, and special guests

Marathon in Jake's memory

Jake's step-sister Erin is running a marathon in Jake's memory and raising funds for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society of Canada. The marathon is in San Francisco on October 21, 2007.

For more information or to make a donation to this worthy cause, please see http://www.active.com/donate/tntcan/race_for_jake.

Classic Jake - the fashionista

I found this picture today taken on a JDE team trip to Ottawa on a cold day in March of 2005...

New article in The Record

Cyclist had passion for roads in France

Happy Father’s Day…

Hi Jakey,
I couldn’t help thinking about you this weekend. It was a lovely Father’s day, and I am sure you would have been out cycling the trails with the wee girls in tow. Its been such a short time since you passed, but it feels like you’ve been gone too long. I am sure you were looking over us all as we spent the weekend with family. The Sauers, with your dad, The Jenkins with Charlie, and our family with our dad. When I think about how fast you were gone, I just want to hug my dad and be grateful that he is with me. I know that there would have been lots of virtual hugs and good vibes being sent from many many friends this past weekend, and I hope that Alex and the girls felt the warmth of their embrace.

Miss you cuz…

Jake: Inspiring Guy

Jake Sauer was an inspiring guy. As I read this blog, I see that he inspired many people -- to do well. He inspired his fellow cyclists to pedal harder. He inspired budding fashionistas to wear fancy shoes. He inspired RIM co-workers to be excellent. In fact, as many of the entries have alluded to, there was something about Jake that inspired pretty much everyone he encountered to live life a little more fully, to give a little more effort, to have a little more wonder.

I don't even exactly remember how I first encountered Jake about 12 years ago at Conrad Grebel College. But he immediately made an impression on me and my 1st-year engineer friends. As a wise and seasoned 2nd-year engineering student, and a member of the elite Security forces at Grebel, he stood out. Jake's panache captured my imagination. I immediately looked up to him.

What, you might ask, would be an appropriate response to the reverence of a first-year frosh towards another, older student? The answer seems simple when you hear it: name a intramural basketball team after him. And so we did. Jake was very good-natured about the whole thing, even affording us a certain level of good-humoured support. And though we failed to bring home the championship to honour Jake, I hope that, secretly, he must have been a little pleased at having been the inspiration for such an elite band of basketballers. It should be noted that, while we did shave "Jake" into our heads for an important game, we never realized the ultimate coup of systematically closing the blinds in the Library on campus to spell his name (though we did create a fairly detailed plan). (Interesting bit of trivia: I should perhaps note here, that though the team's name was fairly high profile -- even making it into the University newspaper -- the basketball team was not the first thing we named after Jake. About 1 month into the year, we also named our pool cue Jake Sauer.)

Unfortunately for me, as I left Waterloo and environs a few years later, I didn't manage to keep up contact with Jake. Then, last year, on a bit of a whim, I emailed him. I was delighted to receive a reply and correspond with him for a while. And, he still inspired me. Though no longer a grinning, orange-clad 2nd-year engineering student, Jake's emails once again conveyed his unique joie-de-vivre. His emails were witty and thoughtful, and reminded me why I'd thought he was such a neat guy.

It feels like I can't really close this off in any way that doesn't sound either trite or pithy. It's hard to write about a gimmick basketball team in the face of the death of a man who was so much more. Thanks, Jake, for inspiring me and so many others.

Barrette Plett (bjtplett@yahoo.com)

Missing Jake

The title of the post immediately before mine was exactly the thoughts running through my head this morning.

Jake and I went to Conrad Grebel together, and were part of the infamous Secret service (as described below by Graham).

One quirk of Jake was his passion....for lego. Yes. Often I would come across stories concerning lego, and would forward them to him. Without fail, he would respond about the story's coolness. these last couple years, he added his desire to get Stella hooked onto lego as an addendum to lego's all around cool-ness.

Today, I ran across a similary story about a lego artist, and instantly thought of Jake.

A few Jake things that I miss

A couple of years ago, while my sister, Elizabeth, was in town visiting me, she and I had lunch with Jake. They hadn't met before, and even though the lunch was somewhat spur of the moment Jake said we should go somewhere really nice, like Janet Lynn's – his treat. I wouldn't let him spend that much on us, so we compromised by going to Solé, which turned out to be full when we got there. We ended up at Ethel's, our usual lunch venue. Jake was so disappointed to be settling for Ethel's that day, but he still insisted on paying. When we thanked him, and said that he didn't have to be so generous, he said it was his privilege to have lunch with us. What I remember clearly about Jake in that moment in particular is the complete sincerity that was evident in the compliment and in his smile. That sincerity was consistently part of his character.
Elizabeth says she remembers that lunch very well because of how kind Jake was and because of his great, stripey scarf. :)
I bought a bike on Jake's recommendation, a wonderful bike of a quality that is in no way warranted given my lack of talent and dedication where biking is concerned. Recently, I considered selling it and downgrading to a lesser bike, but I couldn't stop thinking that Jake would be disappointed when I told him. He was one of the few people I've known who would actively, and always genially, discourage me from settling for less than he thought I deserved. He really did appreciate the good things in life. Unselfishly, he wanted them for everyone.
One more small thing I miss: every time I got a response from Jake over email or chat that read, "Roger that," it made me smile a little. Maybe there are other people who do that, but to me, it was totally a Jake thing to say.
____________________________________________
From: Jacob Sauer
Sent: Tuesday, April 17, 2007 10:13 AM
To: Katie McGuane
Subject: RE:

Roger that thanks.


Jacob Sauer
Patent Agent Trainee
Research In Motion
mailto:jsauer@rim.com
P: 519.888.7465x2438
F: 519.883.4935

A fine young man...

I will fondly remember Jake for many reasons, but most notably for the fine young man he was. From the day I started working at RIM in July of 1999 in Software Jake would always help me if he saw me carrying anything heavy, by either taking the package from me and carrying it to where I needed it to be, or he would hold the door open for me. Jake would always smile as he walked by and say “hello Tammy – how’s it going”.

It was his love and respect for life, family, friends and colleagues (and fashion) that made him special and such a fine young man. He was always smiling and always willing to help anyone! On top of all of this he had the best shoes I’ve ever seen on any man.

Several years ago he proudly came to work with a new pair of shoes, I think they were red and white, and looked like bowling shoes. I teased him by saying “hey Jake, I think you forgot to take your bowling shoes off before coming to work” and with his big smile and head up high he proudly told me the name/style of the shoes and where he got them. From that point on anytime I saw him I would always look at his shoes (after saying hello) and when I saw he was wearing a new pair I would say “nice shoes” and he would proudly reply “thanks” and give me a big smile.

After Jake moved to the Legal department I hardly ever saw him as our paths no longer crossed however, a few weeks back I bumped into Jake in the parking lot. After saying hello and asking him if he was coming back to Software (wishful thinking on my part) and commenting on his shoes, he proudly took off his glasses, smiled at me, and said “hello Tammy” while saying thanks about the shoes. He also and very proudly went on to say “nope I’m not coming back to Software, just cutting through on my way to a meeting – but thanks for asking – I do miss it there, but for now I love what I’m doing.” With that he wished me a nice evening, put his glasses back on and proudly walked on to his meeting. That was my last conversation with Jake. As he walked away I made note in my mind that he was happy (as always) and that he seemed very content with where he was in his life and how great that was to see!

For those of us that had the pleasure to get to know Jake we will always hold him dear in our hearts. Jake was a fine young man and one that Alex, his two daughters and family can be proud of forever!

Tammy

The Jake I never knew

It's been both enlightening and distressing reading all of these stories about the Jake that I never knew. I grew up with Jake. He is the first memory I have of a friend. During kindergarten I would spend the free afternoons at Jake's house waiting for my parents to get off of work. Mrs. Sauer became somewhat of a surrogate mother. I've got so many great memories of the Sauer household - Mr. Sauer nicknaming me "Rosco P. Coltrane" after the Dukes of Hazzard character, a mutual friend of ours that had whopping cough coughing in Kate's orange juice in hopes that I could go to the Michael Jackson concert with Jake instead of Kate(sorry about that one Kate).
Jake and I would remain inseparable up until the high school years. My family moved to Ayr and I was forced to attend Southwood in Cambridge. We kind of drifted apart after that. The last time we spoke was right after his mom died. I am afraid to say that I never knew the cyclist, the young father or the co-worker who lit up the office. As I've read through these memories the past few days it has become more obvious to me that even though I didn't get the chance to know Jake in his latter years, the Jake I knew was still there. My lasting memory of Jake takes place on the steps of the Sauer's back porch in Victoria Park. Teddy, Jake's younger brother, couldn't have been more than 3 years old. He was walking down the steps of their back porch and fell off of the side of the steps into some thorn bushes. I remember Teddy' face being covered with blood. I'm not sure who cried more, Jake or Teddy. In that one little instant there was a glimpse into the man that Jake would become. A person whose heart for others far out distanced any kind of concern he had for anything else.
While I'm saddened to think that I never had the opportunity to get to spend time with Jake in his adult years, or that our kids never had the chance to play together, I am consoled by the fact that I did know the Jake that everyone has so kindly written about.......it was just so long ago.

From Glen Johannesson

Some of you may recognize the graph below. Jake posted many of them on his blog 45inches.blogspot.com. He meticulously recorded his performances climbing up Mt Ventoux (pulse, speed, meters climbed etc) and regularly posted the results for fellow cycling geeks to read and marvel over with jealousy tinged fascination. This graph is different however. This graph is the record of our last ride with Jake. This time we lead Jake instead of us chasing after him. Jake was an inexplicably strong rider and it was a privilege and an honor to lead him out one last time.

Glen

From Marlene Waters

Every time I return to Canada for work, I would stay with Alex and Jake and his growing collection of bikes, but in March of this year, I received a phone call from Alex telling me she and Jake were planning to head to my area of the world – Arizona. So while Jake did his form of relaxation (crazy, all day biking in Tucson), Alex and I enjoyed ours (a day at the spa).

From their last night here, when we were all together, I remember a couple of things. One was Jake not feeling it had been his best bike trip as he couldn’t get his heart rate up. For all of you bikers, I’m sure you understand, but I remember joking with Alex saying “wasn’t it a good thing if you can bike all day and your heart wasn’t racing?” Jake tried to explain the difference, but I will never understand :)

The 2^nd thing I remember was him playing with my 2 month old son. The first thing Jake did when he arrived for dinner was ask to see Benjamin. Instead of playing with him from a distance, he immediately held him and gushed about how cute that age was and how he was so excited to go through that stage again with their second child.

Jake loved how you could hold them and they would cuddle with you. I have known Jake since my first year of university, he was the guy that didn’t sit still when you talked to him, or would quickly jump on a tangent and have you laughing at how excited he got, but the Jake I saw holding my son was a Dad that understood how precious babies are, and who was already in love with his unborn child. I am glad I got to see that side of Jake, and my only regret is that I never got my camera out while they were here.

Marlene Waters