MOUNT PEARL, NL – Landwash Brewery has announced that co-founder/owner Jennifer Defreyne has passed away at the age of 45 after a 15-month battle with brain cancer.
Born in Ontario but based in Newfoundland for many years, Jennifer – pictured left above, with fellow founders/owners Chris Conway and Christina Coady – was an experienced engineer, and joined Newfoundland natives Chris and Christina on the Landwash project when they returned to their home province after working as brewers in Ontario for several years.
As noted in a post on the Landwash Facebook page, Jennifer’s engineering experience was a great asset in setting up the brewery:
Jen was the architect of so much of Landwash in those first months of planning, scouting dozens of locations, negotiating leases, writing up articles of incorporation, and securing financing. She designed our steam system and drew massive piping diagrams to turn an empty warehouse into a brewery; always with the dream of having years of projects and technical challenges to look forward to solving as we grew.
Jennifer Defreyne is survived by her partner Jenn Shepherd, parents Bob and Mary Defreyne, and many other family members. Her family has asked that in lieu of flowers, donations can be made to The Brain Tumour Foundation of Canada.
Source & Photo: Landwash Brewery Facebook page