WASHINGTON, Sept. 21 (UPI) -- President Barack Obama said he is mourning the loss of Jake Brewer, a senior policy adviser who died recently when his bicycle crashed into an oncoming car.
Brewer, 34, died Saturday in Washington D.C. when he lost control of his bike at a sharp curve and crossed into oncoming traffic. He collided with a car at about 3:40 p.m.
Obama released a statement on Brewer's death, where Obama praised his life and work as a White House senior policy adviser in the Office of Science and Technology Policy.
"I am heartbroken at the tragic loss of one of my advisors, Jake Brewer," Obama wrote in the statement. "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."
Brewer was recently working on an event to teach underprivileged youth to learn to write code in the Bronx borough in New York City and he was working on helping bring together industry and government leaders to use data to connect people who have key skills to job opportunities.
"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," Obama wrote. "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."
Mary Katharine Ham, Brewer's wife since 2011, is a journalist and political commentator. She has continued to release images of Brewer in remembrance since his death. They have a 2-year-old daughter, Georgia.
