A great show of love for Dougie
Plaque installed at community centre in honour of Doug Jacobs
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This article was published 11/01/2016 (3799 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.
In a dressing room at the Victoria site of Fort Garry Community Centre, covered by a sheet of protective plastic, the wall is full of messages scribbled in black marker.
“You are a part of all our lives, a part of Fort Garry. You will live on in all of us,” is written above the bench. “This place will never be the same without you Dougie.”
The dozens of sentiments expressed in that dressing room are a tribute to Doug Jacobs. An excellent plumber who spent his free time lacing up the skates of young hockey players at Victoria’s outdoor rinks, Doug was a fixture in Fort Garry.
On July 28, 2015, Doug died from a brain aneurysm just two weeks shy of his 28th birthday. He had been preparing to buy a house in the community and establish a home for himself in the same neighbourhood his family has lived in for decades. His passing was preceded by a string of reoccurring headaches thought to be caused by neck problems, but later associated with the aneurysm. The unexpected loss was a shock to the community and the Jacobs family.
“He was very easygoing, very generous and everybody loved him,” Rob Jacobs said of his younger brother.
In addition to being siblings, the two worked together at the family-owned R. Jacobs Plumbing company. Doug was an accomplished plumber who made an impression on all the other tradespeople he met and the customers he served, Rob said.
“He just had one of those personalities that was pretty contagious.”
Known as “Dougie” by his many friends and family, Doug grew up across the lane from the community centre and spent countless hours at the rinks with his beer league team the General Jim’s, helping to maintain the ice, mentoring young skaters and volunteering his time for the community. It was a Jacobs family tradition to work at the centre and one Doug happily carried on.
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On Dec. 30, a community-sponsored plaque was unveiled at the Victoria clubhouse dedicating rink No. 1 to Doug’s memory.
Longtime family friend Scott Reid helped rally the community to raise funds for the plaque. Reid said it was important to remember Doug and recognize the inspiring contributions he made to the area.
“He was such a big part of the community centre, and growing up there, working there and volunteering there,” Reid said. “There wasn’t a day that he wasn’t on the ice.
“He was just such a wholesome kid and was always there when they needed a hand.”
Doug’s team still meets up at the rink on a weekly basis to play a game of shinny in his honour.
“He was very easygoing, very generous and everybody loved him”
The support from the community following Doug’s death has deeply moved the family, Jacobs said, and they are very grateful.
“The community’s support has been unbelievable. I’ve never seen anything like it,” Jacobs said. “The days after his death, my mom and dad’s yard, where Doug and I grew up, was a non-stop flow of traffic and people bringing food and cards and money. It was absolutely unbelievable.”
The Jacobs family also hopes to raise awareness of brain aneurysms and their symptoms in the future. It’s estimated that one in five people have an unruptured brain aneurysm, according to the Brain Aneurysm Foundation.
“Having gone through what we’d gone through, (brain aneurysms) were not something that I had given any extra thought to,” Jacobs said. “When it comes to aneurysms you don’t really hear too much about it.”
“It just doesn’t seem to get the public awareness that it should.”
