Jason's Song of Life
Jason started life on May 26, 1977, born on the slopes of Table Mountain in Cape Town, South Africa. When he and his mother arrived in Toronto, Canada a year later to join the rest of the family, his grandmother took him under her wing becoming his guide, protector, teacher and firm friend. He was soon part of the community attending local schools, with his grandmother a fixture during the early years taking him to and from school. He went to Jarvis Collegiate for high school, and York University's French language program at Glendon campus, graduating in 2002 with a BA in Economics and mathematics.
Always interested in fitness, Jason earned a black belt in kung fu and worked as an instructor for Temple Kung Fu. He was also keenly interested in other cultures. As a teenager he even enrolled himself in Chinese language classes and in time, learned some of the cultural traditions of his many friends. When he joined his mother in Kenya where she was working, she was initially concerned that he might find the transition from his high school in Toronto to a school in Kenya, difficult. But within a couple of days he was organizing his fellow students into a basketball team.
He was a man of many parts. Generous with his time and talents, he would help friends and sometimes strangers who needed it in ways practical, financial and social. He loved dogs, especially his dear pitbull, Kira. And he had a magical way with children.
His birthday BBQ was a much anticipated event for many years, attended by old friends and new. The memory of the tiramisu he helped make on those occasions lingered on long after. Travelling widely with his family and later on for his own interest or work as an insurance assessor, he maintained ties with South Africa, its culture, music, and landscape, climbing Table Mountain and exploring Cape Town with his cousins and uncles.
Jason expressed his creative talent in sculpting figures as a child and he later wrote an article on steam power for publication in an engineering magazine, His creativity eventually found a bigger outlet in the business he started in 2011, JCompanyDesigns. Here his creative and business talents combined to transform spaces by producing distinctive decor for events, including for TIFF one year.
He was also keenly interested in philosophy, history and politics, reading widely on these topics. A genuinely critical thinker, he loved to challenge ideas and was at times impatient with those who accepted standard concepts without question.
Some of the memories from those who knew him speak to his impact on others:
“Jason was truly a unique and brilliant soul. Over the years, I was fortunate to get to know him — to have conversations that were thoughtful, unexpected, and often filled with his unmistakable wit and insight. He had a way of leaving a lasting impression, not just through his intelligence, but through his sincerity and originality.” (Kyle Sanderson, friend)
“Jason was a curious, intelligent person. Brave, courageous, generous, ambitious, creative, had beautiful manners, resourceful and committed to ... his work and life. We will miss him so much.” (Deborah Guild, family friend)
After several years of declining health, Jason left us on May 14, 2025.
But his inquiring mind and loving spirit live on.