Robert S. “Bob” Jacobson died Feb. 15, 2013, at his home in Palm Harbor, Fla., under the care of Hospice.
He was born Oct. 30, 1924, in Morgantown, the seventh son of Carl A. and Mary E. Metzger Jacobson.
On Dec. 26, 1947, he married Elisabeth Ann “Libby” Brown of Summersville.
They had one daughter, Mary Elizabeth Jacobson of Green Spring.
At West Virginia University, Bob was a member of the football and track teams, Phi Kappa Psi, Phi Beta Kappa, Delta Sigma Theta, YMCA and Wesley Foundation. He graduated from WVU in 1947 with a degree in chemical engineering. Bob and Libby then moved to Creed, and he worked in Charleston as assistant engineer of the Division of Sanitary Engineering for West Virginia Department of Health (1951/52). He then returned to WVU to attend law school.
Following graduation from law school, the family moved to Tappan, N.Y. For two years, he worked for a New York City law firm before returning to Franklin to serve as interim prosecuting attorney in Pendleton County. The family then moved to Marlinton where for 10 years, he maintained private practice and was prosecuting attorney (eight years) of Pocahontas County. In 1969, the family moved to Greenbrier County, Lewisburg, where he maintained private practice. Bob also practiced law in Florida for many years.
Bob was active in many civic, professional and philanthropic organizations. He was a member of Lewisburg United Methodist Church at Lewisburg. He was a former member of the board of governors of the West Virginia State Bar serving three years representing a six-county area. In Pocahontas and Greenbrier counties, he was a bank director and organizer.
Historical preservation and genealogy were two of his passions: Pocahontas County Historical Society and Museum, Pearl S. Buck Birthplace and Foundation, Hillsboro, historical societies in Greenbrier County, Pinellas County, Fla., and Burnett County, Wis. He secured placement of his paternal grandparent’s home place (Jacobson House and Mill Site, Wood Lake, Wis.) on the National Register of Historical Places. The voyage of the Viking Ship Hjemkomst (1982) from Duluth, Minn., to Oslo, Norway, captured his interest and philanthropic generosity. Other passions were the arts, learning, cycling and architectural design. Many summers he spent at Chautauqua Institution, Chautauqua, N.Y., taking classes and attending lectures and concerts.
Surviving are his daughter, Mary E. “Beth” Jacobson (Tim Bateman), of Green Spring; Betty Jo Morgan, loving friend and devoted caregiver, of Ronceverte; granddaughter, Sarah E. Russell Sanchez (Roy); two great-grandchildren, Addison and Silas Sanchez of Greensboro, N.C.; sisters-in-laws, Alice Brown Juergens of Morgantown and Gloria Jacobson of Northridge, Cailf.; and numerous nephews and nieces.
A memorial service will be conducted at Highland Lakes Lodge, Palm Harbor, Fla., Feb. 23 at 11 a.m. wil Fr. C. Christopher Thompson officiating. In Lewisburg, friends and family will be received at Lewisburg United Methodist Church Fellowship Hall Friday, March 8, from 4 to 6 p.m. A memorial service will be conducted March 9, at 11 a.m. with the Rev. Dr. Joseph A. Kenaston, Father C. Christopher Thompson and the Rev. Kenneth Caplinger officiating. Interment will follow in Walker Memorial Cemetery in Summersville.
In lieu of flowers, donations may be made in his memory to Suncoast Hospice, 5771 Roosevelt Blvd., Clearwater, FL 33760.
