The Charlatan, Carleton's Independent Student Newspaper - Feb 26, 2004

Friends pay respects to Ameer Jinah

By REBECCA LAU

Ameer Jinah, or AJ as he was known to his friends, drove a “sexy” car.

“He just got it — he was saving up,” says Jalal Jetha, who was Jinah’s co-chair of finance in their fraternity, Sigma Pi. “If he set his mind to something, he’d get it.”

Close friend and Sigma Pi brother Troy Lajambe says he admired Jinah’s dedication. “He worked very hard,” Lajambe explains. “He was passionate about success.” Jinah is described by those who knew him as a kind, intelligent and well-mannered young man who was devoted to his family and religion.

The second-year software engineering and commerce student died in an accident late Feb. 21. He was celebrating his 20th birthday with friends. “He was such a good person. He treated the women and men in his life very well,” says friend Michelline Nesrallah. “He was a gentleman and a very good Muslim.”

Lajambe recalls how Jinah spent 10 seconds praying in his car before he drove each time. “He had the perfect balance of ethics, politics, religion, family and friendship. He was well beyond his years,” he says.

Since the age of 14, Jinah had managed one of his family’s restaurants in Belleville, Ont. During any breaks from school, friends say he would return home to help the family business. “Any money he made, he pooled into the family account,” says Lajambe. “He put everybody before himself.”

Last year, Jinah was the first-year representative on the Carleton Student Engineering Society. He also organized a large charity fundraising event on his own initiative. The party, which took place at a local club, drew students from universities across Canada. He threw a similar party this year, which attracted schools from the United States as well.

“He was probably the most organized and professional guy in the fraternity I knew,” says Carleton’s Sigma Pi president Justin Parlato. “He was honest, organized and had his life together.” Parlato explains how Jinah returned to Carleton this fall after working out extensively. People began to notice him more and he became very social.

“He was super fit, cut and very in shape,” Parlato says. “He had a little more confidence [and] more of a twinkle in his eye.”

But above all, Jinah’s friends say they will remember him for his friendship and kind-heartedness. “If you ever needed a favour, he would never say no,” says Jetha. “Whenever you were with him, you’d have a good time regardless.”

Lajambe says he thinks Jinah simply wanted everyone to be happy.

“He once told me he wanted to be rich - not just financially — but with friends and family,” he says. “But he also [wished] that the friends and family [were] just as wealthy, whether it be in love or life.”

Instead, those friends and family are now organizing a memorial service on campus to celebrate the life of a young man whose time they say was cut too short.

“He touched a lot of our lives, whether you knew him for five minutes or five years,” says Jetha. “You’ll always remember a guy like that.”