Florida----Betsy Jacobson of Palm Beach Gardens, Florida died August 17, 2014 at Good Samaritan Hospital in West Palm Beach, Florida of complications following surgery. She was 96.
She was born in Logansport, Indiana on February 3, 1918 to Roy Johnson and Blanche (Fryback) Johnson. She was a graduate of Logansport High School and attended Shimer College for two years where she was active in drama and sports. She was named “May Queen” by vote of the faculty and student body in 1938. She graduated from Indiana University in 1940 with a degree in English, Speech and Drama. She was a 75 -year member of Kappa Alpha Theta sorority and maintained a life-long interest in its work and charities.
It was at Indiana University that she met Carl Jacobson whom she married in 1940. Carl was a member of three NCAA Champion Swimming Teams at Indiana, was a B-24 Bomber Pilot who “flew the Hump” over the Himalayas between India and China in World War II and ultimately, with Betsy’s support and help, became the Chairman of the Board of Tropigas Corporation. Carl died in 1996 after a lengthy illness. They were married for nearly 56 years.
Betsy was an active member in churches wherever she lived over the years, including Old First Presbyterian Church in Huntington, New York, Palm City Congregational Church in Stuart, Florida and the Congregational Church of Laconia, New Hampshire. She served as Sunday school teacher, President of the Women’s Organization and Deacon. She organized the sponsorship and re-settlement of a Laotian family in South Miami. She was a Girl Scout leader and most recently, she was active in P.E.O. chapters in New Hampshire and Florida.
She was an accomplished pianist and poet with many of her poems published and many more shared with family and friends.
She would mark her greatest accomplishments as having given all she had to be a loving daughter, sister, wife, mother, grandmother, great-grandmother and friend.
She is survived by her three children, Ann George, Jo Beth Farmer(Duncan) and Ross Jacobson, her nine grandchildren, Christian D’Andrea(Heidi), Bethany Miller(Riley), Evan George(Diana), Major Matthew Farmer, US Army(Melanie), Peter Farmer(Titie), SFC Jonathan Farmer, US Army Special Forces(Tabitha), Andrew Farmer, Carl Jacobson(Danielle) and Keith Jacobson(Amy), and her eight great-grandchildren, Quinlan D’Andrea, Adelheid D’Andrea, Jacob Martz, Evelyn Farmer, Owen Farmer, Betsy Farmer, Devin Farmer and Harper Jacobson.
Betsy Jacobson had a life in full and penned this poem as a celebration of life and a thanksgiving for life.
THE SHEPHERD
You have led me here
To this place
To this time
To this peace.
Through all the times of my life
Along the watered plains
Through mountain trails of stumbling rock
Frightening chasms
But breathtaking vistas.
And now
I have reached this tranquil water
This resting place
Knowing you have been with me
All the way
And always will be
I am content.
Instead of sending flowers, friends are encouraged to donate to the Wounded Warrior Project, PO Box 758517, Topeka, Kansas 66675, the Congregational Church of Laconia, 18 Veterans Square, Laconia, NH 03246 or Spaulding Youth Center, PO Box 189, Tilton, NH 03276.
A Memorial Service will be held at 11:00 AM on Saturday, Sept. 20, 2014 at the Congregational Church of Laconia, 69 Pleasant Street, Laconia, NH 03246.
Burial will be in Oakland Cemetery, Meredith Center Road, Meredith, NH
Wilkinson-Beane-Simoneau-Paquette Funeral Home & Cremation Services, 164 Pleasant Street, Laconia, N.H. is assisting the family with the arrangements. For more information and to view an online memorial go to www.wilkinsonbeane.com.