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

From Steven Fyke

"Jake and I just clicked" It’s something I’ve heard over and over again this past week and it’s true for me as well. I met Jake, and we just clicked. I think that’s what happens when you’re as truly genuine as Jake. He would tell you what he thought, and listen to what you had to say. He was a fabulous friend to anyone that spoke to him.

I met Jake through work and I wish I had more time to get to know him better personally. The time I had we spent talking about life, love, work, the universe and everything over Hot Chocolate or lunch at Janet Lynn’s. We had formulated grandiose plans to take over the world (or at least a small portion of RIM) and I had every faith in him that it would happen. He was passionate about everything he did in life, and I will miss him dearly.

Perhaps one of my favorite things about Jake was that his style (personality and fashion) shone through regardless of where he was and what he was doing. This is a picture of the Patent Committee at last years patent dinner. Take careful note of everyone’s shoes. :)



Steven Fyke

Cyclist Escort

A photo of Jake's cyclist escort:

Picture of Jake

This picture of Jake was taken by Jeff McDowell on the Rim jet about 3 years ago.

"We were on a trip to Sun Microsystems and the two of us took turns in the right seat (co-pilot) on the way home. It was a blast."

-Jeff

First Impressions

I've only spent time with Jake on a handful of occasions since he and Alex began their relationship. I grew up with Alex back in Ottawa and have been blessed to call her a friend for almost 26 years now.

When news of Jake's death came to us, one of the first things I did was go and dig out my old journals. In them I still have some of the letters Alex wrote to me while she was at University in K-W and I, in Ottawa.

"You'd love it here, Carly. Conrad Grebel is amazing. I want to tell you about some of the people I've met so far ... Jake (Jacob - the name) is Mennonite. He helped me move in and is coming to pick me up soon to walk me to my studio. Most of the guys are more than willing to do that for you."

That letter was written sometime in the first weeks of September 1995, before they started dating. A sign of things to come. She goes on to write more about him in future letters. You can feel her glowing right off the pages.

I think the first time I met Jake in person was on one of their trips to Ottawa to visit Alex's family. It must have been one of the first times, because I remember Alex telling me how her Mom had made lasagna for supper and he ate every bite, even asking for seconds, despite having problems digesting dairy. Some might say he would have wanted to make a good impression on Alex's parents, but I'm certain his "motives" would have gone even deeper. Knowing how hard Mrs. J would have worked on the meal, he wouldn't have wanted her to feel badly about serving something he couldn't eat.

Although I didn't know him well, he was always warm and welcoming (even when putting this weekend "guest" to work in the yard) and thoughtful. I was most impressed by his way of looking at you when you were speaking, listening deeply, as though what you had to say was more important than anything and everything.

It's clear from the many wonderful stories I've heard over the last couple of weeks that Jake will be deeply missed and equally importantly, lovingly remembered. My prayers and sympathies go out to all of his family, friends and colleagues.

Jake and 606

Recently, I moved buildings at work. During my "re-setup my environment" phase I opened up a file explorer window to find a remote file server. There, under the list of "commonly visited servers" was "jsauer-lt.rim.net".

When I first met Jake, I confessed to many that "I really don't listen to any music that's been recorded since 1971"; my clear focus was on jazz and blues from the 30s up through the mid-to-late sixties, and very little after that time period.

Then, for some reason, I made some comment about 'Beck' to Jake because I'd seen one of his videos while channel flipping.

"You know, that's not really representative of his wider work. He's done some really cool stuff, especially recently. Why don't you give my collection a listen?"

So I did.

At today's funeral I was reminded of Jake's interest in music, as we ended our remembrance of him by singing "Praise God From Whom". The sudden sureness and firmness of all the menno-voices in the audience rose to meet this familiar hymnal standard, and I was reminded of the cultural roots that Jake and I shared.

Thank-you, Jake, for introducing me to Beck and RadioHead and other modern pop-music. I might have found them eventually, but you made sure I found them with an open mind. Now my palette is wider, thanks to your friendship.

From Milosz Sikora

I met Jake through Matt Charters back when I was looking for my last co-op placement in the fall of 2004. Jake was the lead for Matt's team at RIM and had mentioned that he was looking for a co-op. Matt suggested me, a fellow CSer and brand new bandmate.

The first time I met Jake, he was wearing an ensemble that looked to me like "designer hippie". That's the best I can describe it. I learned later that my first impression was half-correct (he was, in fact, NOT a hippie). If you think it's strange to spend half a blog post dedicated to the memory of a friend talking about clothes, you did not know Jake. :)

The interview itself turned out to be my favourite one of my co-op career. Instead of the usual crap about what you know, your strengths, weaknesses, etc., he merely looked at my resume said, "Well this looks good enough" and proceeded to give me two brain teasers.

Now I love love love brain teasers and managed to get both by the end, although there were a couple of moments where he seemed to be fine with me quitting. He was judging my "thinking skills" he said and not whether I could do them.

So I got the job at the end of the interview.

Over the next few years I had no trouble staying in touch especially after starting my full time job at RIM.

We still saw each other for lunch every two weeks or so and we'd always talk about computers (natch), cycling (his one true love), clothes (our mutual love), and rock stardom (I'm pretty sure Jake secretly wanted to be the singer in a rock band).

He was easily one of the smartest people I knew but he also had a charm that made that intelligence something you wanted to learn from and emulate instead of feeling alienated by it. He had this infectious enthusiasm that was as genuine towards your own goals and ideas as his own.

He was a rare breed and I'll miss him tons.

Milosz Sikora

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.

A Persistent Friend

Jake and Craig and I met periodically for lunch since working together several years ago. Jake was the one who persisted and followed up to ensure that we continued to meet even after our offices were no longer side by side.

The conversation was varied and always interesting. Jake had an animated way of telling a story that was inspiring ('unbelievable'). We talked about everything from children and child birth and schools to articles from the economist and idea conferences and how to maintain innovative cultures and market based models for product development :).

And occasionally the subject of the Jake's new bike would come up.

"You told us about that last time we met" one of us would say.

"No... this is a new one".

:)

One time my son Jordan came along to pick up a bike from the bike shop in Jake's basement. My son looked around wide eyed at the bikes. Jake took the time to setup the bike and show Jordan the bike stand and the tools he was using. On the way home Jordan told me that whatever he ended up doing when he grew up he wanted a bike shop like that :)

I will miss his council, encouragement and the persistence of his friendship. I could share with him complicated concerns and frustrations and if I needed it he would say 'I hear you, I understand why you are hesitant, but this is what you need to do'... and then he would follow up with periodic reminders 'have you done that yet?' and 'This is my encouragement email to you re...'.

I am going to miss you, Jake.

Thank you for your ear and your encouragement. When we talked I felt like great things were possible.

A Cut Above

Jake’s many endearing qualities made it easy to like and respect him; those who knew Jake to any degree knew he was a cut above the rest. A memory that comes to mind is of a day when I saw Jake above the rest in a literal sense. A few years ago at a team building event to go indoor rock climbing, I found myself watching in awe as Jake, clearly an experienced climber, scaled the walls with what seemed like no effort at all. I was astounded by his ability and the heights he reached.

Thank you Sean, Gary and Ray. This growing collection of memories of Jake is a gift.

"Do what you do best. Just do."

Jake was someone who could quickly understand details. He was able to keep track of multiple issues in multiple programming languages (although you'd never hear him admit it :). And yet I always found him open to he was always open and encouraging to questions, new ideas and suggestions.

At one time he setup an internal blog to share ideas. What he wrote I think reflects a little of his team and leadership style that I and others appreciated. Here are two excerpts

"This is all about collaboration. So come here and read, write and contribute. Know software? Write code. Know hardware? build stuff. Know design? Make graphics. Do what you do best. Just do."

"If you’ve found this then we need you. Read the posts. Something strike you? Contribute: Ideas, code, h/w, graphics, design, ergonomics, docs. Whatever. Just innovate and collaborate."

Cyclist escort for funeral procession

From the Waterloo Cycling Club

From Gary Mousseau

What can I say about Jake, lots and lots but space is limited. I first met Jake when I hired him in 1998 a fresh and eager co-op student full of piss and vinegar. RIM was small then and the need for BlackBerry developers was insatiable. Needless to say his work ethic was amazing and soon he was coding up our first protocol links between our enterprise servers and our infrastructure. (Doing this as a co-op was no small job!). Not only was he easy to manage but it seemed my biggest challenge was reeling him in from having put too much work on his own plate. The next three years we worked on an off together within the software team, but our ways parted as I migrated to the patent team to face other battles. However our friendship re-established itself last year when Jake himself took the plunge and joined the patent team. As was so characteristic of Jake’s style and panache, his arrival provided a new spark of life for me in the patent team. His enthusiasm for everything he did brought new life to the Patent Committee and he and I worked 10 months trying to improve the quality of new innovations accepted and approved within RIM. He would often pull me from my desk-stupor for a short walk over to Tim Horton’s where we would discuss our respective future plans for family, life and RIM. The photo I’ve enclosed for everyone to see is typical of Jake for me; he has that joyful gaze and look of amazement in his eyes that comes from seeing life from a fresh perspective all the time. Jake could be child-like in his passion for life and this moment seem right to share this photo with you all. This was taken on my 50^th birthday, April 20, 2007 on the day I submitted my resignation from RIM, a decision I discussed often with him.

All the best Jake in your next amazing journey… Gary

Spirited...

If I had to choose one word to describe Jake, it would be spirited (adj) - having or showing mettle, courage, vigor, liveliness, etc. The JDE team was one of the first teams I had the privilege to work with when I joined RIM just over three years ago. Jake was the lead developer on the team and impressed me from the start with his wisdom and patience even when bombarded with questions. Jake was full of charisma, enthusiasm and zealousness for not only his work, but also for the team of which he was a part. I remember later on, he and I would run triages together and confuse everyone else because we moved issues around at ‘exhilarating speed’ (as Viktor called it). When Alex and Jake were expecting Stella and a couple of the other team members where about to become new fathers, our team meetings would often begin with funny updates on everyone’s kids (both already here and those on their way) before we got down to business. Jake was truly an inspiration – loyal, devoted and passionate and will always be remembered with great fondness at RIM…

Grebel Days

During his university days at Grebel, Jake was part of a group of goofy high-security goons who decided that the student council president needed a secret service team. Like all good secret service teams, Jake and his cohorts discussed the need for an appropriately professional uniform, and from that point on followed the student council president around at events wearing bright red long johns. That's him, front left, in the all-college picture.

That same year, a ridiculously silly and always fun basketball team entered the U of W co-rec basketball league. Because it was ridiculously silly and always fun, it seemed logical, I suppose, to name it after Jake. Which is what they did. These are two pictures of the team known simply as "Jake Sauer", engaging in silliness that very much matched the spirit of their namesake.

Dara Douma