Greg Durocher, president of the Cambridge Chamber of Commerce, served on council with Brewer in the late 1980s. He had gotten to know her when he was on the Preston Towne Centre BIA and Brewer was the council liaison to the committee.

“She was very supportive of anyone who was willing to run for office,” Durocher recalled. “She was my mentor for many years. She was very encouraging, but she could also give you a kick in the butt if you needed it. She was a brilliant politician and had a great spirit.”

Durocher said he had a close relationship with Brewer, and she really understood and was devoted to the community.

“Even when her daughter died, we knew she must have been in an incredible amount of pain … but, she was as solid as a rock and stayed in control,” he said. “I once asked her (prior to her retirement) when she was going to take some Jane time and she told me: ‘I’m doing exactly what I want to do.’”

Durocher said Brewer “was always interested in what was happening in the community and always young at heart.”

“She was always a great champion for the Cambridge.”

In 2014, the Cambridge Chamber of Commerce honoured Brewer with a lifetime achievement award as well as an award for her work as a politician.

At that time, Regional Chair Ken Seiling stated: “She always represented Cambridge interests well, I always thought, yet she had that big-picture vision. She had a way of doing it that it wasn’t combative, it was ‘I’ve thought this out, I’ve reasoned, I have the facts and here’s how I see it.’”

“She was a truly lovely lady and a great representative of Cambridge and the Region,” Seiling said Tuesday. “She was a good church woman. She was a great friend to people and maintained those friendships. Everyone who worked with her couldn’t help by be fond of her.”

Mayor Doug Craig took the reins of the city from Brewer in 2000. He had served on council with Brewer for more than a decade prior to that, and continued to serve with her on regional council until her retirement several years ago.

“She was very well respected by everyone that knew her,” Craig said of Brewer.

“She came into office at a time when the city was growing very rapidly and I believe she was the right person, at the right time,” he said.

“I think she will be remembered for giving us nine years with nine zero per cent budgets."

Craig said he had a good working relationship with his predecessor and they would talk from time to time about different things going on in the city.

“Jane may have left politics, but she still continued to be part of the community,” he said. “She called a few weeks ago and she was unhappy with myself and council over a particular issue, but once again she had the community’s best interest at heart.”

Flags have been lowered to half-mast at city facilities and a book of condolences is available at city hall for people to sign.

— with files from Richard Vivian