WASHINGTON – Police say a bicyclist has died after being struck by a SUV Saturday during a charity ride in Mount Airy, Maryland.
Jacob “Jake” Thomas Brewer, 34, of Arlington, Virginia was pronounced dead at the scene. The Washington Post is reporting that Brewer was a White House staffer and was riding in the Ride to Conquer Cancer because of a close friend who was a cancer patient.
According to the White House website, Brewer is a senior policy adviser in the Office of the the Chief Technology Officer. His mother, Lori Brewer Collins, told the paper that he “lived life large and tended to live life for other people.”
In a statement, President Barack Obama said Brewer was “one of the best”:
I am heartbroken at the tragic loss of one of my advisors, Jake Brewer. We set out to recruit the best of the best to join their government and help us harness the power of technology and data to innovate new solutions for the 21st century. 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. 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. Michelle and I are praying for all of Jake’s family and his many friends, most of all his wife, Mary Katharine Ham, their daughter, Georgia, and their growing family. They’ll always have a family here at the White House.
Howard County police said the incident happened at around 3:40 p.m. on Old Frederick Road, near Twin Arch Road.
Brewer was traveling west Old Frederick Road and was entering a sharp curve in the roadway, where police say he lost control and crossed the double yellow lines.
A 2008 Honda Pilot traveling east struck the bicyclist while entering the curve.
Brewer was a husband and a father. On Sunday, his wife Mary Katharine Ham posted a photo the family together.
“This is a family picture we took a couple weeks ago,” she wrote in the post. “It was taken because Jake, as always, was ready with a camera and his immense talent. All four members of our little, growing family are in it. I can never be without him because these babies are half him.”
