In Memoriam

Robert "Bobby" Cann '09 He was passionate about friends and family, his job--and cycling. By Chelsea Conaboy '04

Bobby Cann '09 biked through the snow. In any season, he would stop to help fellow cyclists with mechanical troubles. And he seized every chance he had to take in the countryside on two wheels or join community rides to raise awareness about bikes on the streets of Chicago.

Cann was as passionate about cycling as he was about his friends and family, or his fledgling career as a writer and developer at the daily deals giant Groupon. On May 29, he was biking home from work when he was struck by a car and killed; the operator was later charged with drunken driving. Cann was 26.

Two days after his death, cyclists gathered to ride in his honor. Cann's bike was a part of him, "like a wing sharply slanting from a swallow," his girlfriend, Catherine Bullard, wrote on a special "deal" Groupon issued in June, collecting donations in his name to help build protected bike lanes.

Cann grew up in Henniker, N.H., a social kid rooted in the outdoors, says his mother, Maria Cann. He became particularly interested in politics and journalism in the lead-up to the 2004 presidential election. When he was 17, Cann's father died of cancer. In the months and years that followed, Cann became a father figure to his younger siblings, his sister, Mary, says.

At UNH, he studied journalism with a special interest in Chinese studies. He spent spring 2008 in Beijing and worked as an intern at the Gloucester Daily Times in 2009.

Lauren Hardies Rudowsky '08 remembers meeting Cann in the third floor lounge of Congreve Hall, newspapers spread out around him. She thought he was kind and goofy. By summer 2009, a contingent of their UNH friends had moved to the Windy City and become one another's "Chicago family."

Struggling to find a job during the collapse of newspapers, Cann worked at sporting goods store REI and began freelancing for Groupon. He learned to write computer code and was hired full time in 2010. It was a job he loved. By then, Cann was steeped in the biking culture of the city and had become a sort of cycling mentor to friends and co-workers. Phil Bird, who had worked with Cann at REI, began wearing a helmet after Cann badgered him, and Bird got hooked on all-season cycling at his friend's urging.

In 2010, Cann rode from New Hampshire to Chicago with little planning about where he would stop each night. That's how he operated, Bird said. "He didn't worry about getting there—it was just, 'Let's get going.'"

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