Honoring Jason David McElwaine

Jason David McElwaine, born July 2, 1978, passed away on June 28th, 2024, just days before his 46th birthday in Tucson, Arizona where he lived for the past ten years. Born in Natick, Massachusetts, he was the oldest child in the family. He had a loving childhood and was a joy to be around. He developed a love for basketball at an early age, and while in middle school played for three teams at the same time. For many years he also enjoyed summer camp and “Family Camp” in the Adirondacks.

Jason attended Canton High School and briefly attended Quincy Community College where he studied computer science. That is when his lifelong passion for software coding was born. 

In his apartment in Quincy, Jason taught himself website design and began a business developing websites for others. He later became skilled in Adobe Flash programming and began to sell code to web developers through online software marketplaces. He became one of the top flash developers in the world, using the online name “CodingJack”.  Oftentimes working for 24 hours straight, Jason managed to support himself for years selling software products to customers around the world that he never actually met. 

After gaining the attention of major software companies, Jason was recruited by ThemePunch, a leader in WordPress products, to serve as their Customer Service Manager. He turned around the company’s online customer rating and was promoted to serve as one of their lead WordPress programmers, a position he held for six years. 

Earlier in his career, Jason took a minimum wage job with Blockbuster Video in Boston. Within a year he was promoted to Store Manager, before making the jump to competitor Hollywood Video. Not only was he the youngest store manager in the Hollywood chain, but he was given their flagship store on Boylston Street in Boston to manage. He was named to the company’s “Top Gun Team” and received awards at a company gathering in Las Vegas.

Jason often cited the lessons he learned from these experiences, especially those related to managing the workforce, as guiding him later in life. 

Jason’s love of basketball continued into his adult life. He played in a very competitive basketball league at the YMCA in Tucson. But, he was never happier than when playing with his Mexican immigrant friends on a makeshift court at an underpass of Interstate I-10. As usual, he played point guard and relished passing the ball and “shooting threes.” His Mexican friends nicknamed him “Gringo.” They couldn’t understand each other’s language, but Jason said that it didn’t matter once the games began. 

Jason traveled extensively in Asia, including to Thailand, Laos, Cambodia, and the Philippines. He especially loved the culture in Cambodia, where people had few material possessions, but would share what they had even with total strangers. He had an apartment there for about six months before returning to the United States.

Needless to say, Jason was a brilliant, hardworking, and a highly creative person. He had a great sense of humor, and took a keen interest in politics and current events. After his death, two podcasts were found on his phone. He had been listening to many excerpts from the Bible, as well as discussions about the recent Boston Celtics championship. He loved the Celtics and often was seen wearing their caps and shirts.  He was a veritable encyclopedia of basketball facts, which were often on display during “basketball talk” at meals. 

Sadly, Jason finally succumbed to his long struggle with mental illness. He is survived by his twin sisters, Haley and Laurie, his brother Colt, his father David, his step-mother Althea, and his mother Julie. He was unmarried and had no children.