GUELPH, Ontario (BRAIN) — Jason ‘Jay’ Filer, owner and lead instructor of Canada’s only bicycle mechanic certification school, has died. Even though Filer had been fighting a two-year battle with cancer of the esophagus, he passed away unexpectedly on Tuesday, Sept. 3. He was 43.
Filer was a long-time cyclist and bike mechanic. He paid his way through college by repairing bikes, and eventually attended the United Bicycle Institute in Portland, Oregon, where he was certified as a mechanic and frame builder.
In 2005, Filer opened his own framebuilding shop in Guelph. He began working with Conestoga College to develop a certification program for bike mechanics in Canada, and founded the Winterborne Bicycle Institute not long after. The school attracts students from all over Canada.
Filer had been working more recently toward a broader goal of having the bike mechanic profession become a recognized and registered trade.
He is survived by his wife of 12 years, Timea, and his three children, Brock, 11, Emily, 10 and Cadence, 8.
A visitation and service was held on Sunday in Guelph.
