“Better than most.”
That’s how the family of 27-year-old Zachary Jacobi remember him in an obituary.
Jacobi was the mountain biker who died of injuries he sustained after crashing on a downhill trail at Blue Mountain on Aug. 7.
“He was staunchly ethical, scrupulously compassionate, and possessed of unbelievable personal integrity,” states the obituary.
The descriptive words are themselves a tribute to the young man who was known among friends and family as a “gateway librarian,” having a large personal book collection and a “preternatural” memory.
“He delighted in showing how well he knew the people he cared about by loaning them books that they couldn’t put down,” said the obituary. “Zachary wrote over a million words, about everything from Star Wars to Hannah Arendt.”
Jacobi was from Brantford, and worked in Kitchener at Alert Labs.
His family remembers him for never missing a Christmas or birthday.
“When all four Jacobis got together … something about it always felt right,” reads the obituary. “We love him.”
Jacobi loved biking the Hydrocut, Dungeons and Dragons, thunderstorms, and “understanding the world.”
Through his obituary, Jacobi’s family is encouraging everyone to register as an organ donor online, and, in lieu of flowers, to donate to the Against Malaria Foundation.
There will be a memorial service on Aug. 16.
