Jake Brewer, 34, a senior policy advisor in the Office of Science and Technology Policy at the White House, died during a charity bicycle event -the two-day, 150-mile Ride to Conquer Cancer - an initiative to raise funds to fight cancer.
Preliminary reports indicate that Brewer had a collision with an oncoming vehicle, after probably losing control of his bicycle at a sharp curve along the race course and crossing the double yellow line.
Announcing his death, his wife, Mary Katharine Ham, a conservative commentator and journalist wrote, "We lost our Jake yesterday, and I lost part of my heart and the father of my sweet babies. I don't have to tell most of you how wonderful he was. It was self-evident. His life was his testimony, and it was powerful and tender and fierce, with an ever-present twinkle in the eye. I will miss him forever, even more than I can know right now," in an Instagram post on Sunday.
President Barack Obama expressed his shock and grief. "I am heartbroken at the tragic loss of one of my advisors, Jake Brewer," Obama said in a statement Saturday, according to NBC News.
"Simply put, Jake was one of the best. Armed with a brilliant mind, a big heart, and an insatiable desire to give back, Jake devoted his life to empowering people and making government work better for them. He worked to give citizens a louder voice in our society. He engaged our striving immigrants. He pushed for more transparency in our democracy. And he sought to expand opportunity for all," Obama continued, according to The Hill.
"Jake devoted his life to empowering people and making government work better for them." —@POTUS on Jake Brewer: pic.twitter.com/uX9Ewn3BXn — The White House (@WhiteHouse) September 20, 2015
"I've often said that today's younger generation is smarter, more determined, and more capable of making a difference than I was as a young man. Jake was proof of that," said Obama, reports CBS.
Brewer is survived by his wife, Mary Katherine, and daughter, Georgia.
