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At random: There are more airplanes at the bottom of the ocean than there are submarines in the sky; therefore I chose submarines over aviation.

Obit Messenger results for 10/18/08 Moderators: Jump to page : 1 Now viewing page 1 [25 messages per page]
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Pig

Posted 2008-10-18 11:39 AM (#20532)

Plankowner

Posts: 5024

Location: Gulfport, MS

Subject: Obit Messenger results for 10/18/08

. - (Grand Rapids Press)
JACOBSON, Jr., Alvin Emmanuel, 86, of Grand Haven, MI, died Thursday, October 16, 2008, at his home. The former president of Grand Haven Brass Foundry, and a founding director and later chairman of the board for JSJ Corporation, Mr. Jacobson was a born leader who led an active and rewarding life. He had a strong commitment to his community, an endless passion for family, great pride in his Swedish heritage, and a boundless energy and optimism that made him a very innovative business leader. A generous as well as hands-on philanthropist, Mr. Jacobson led by example. His life embodied the values of the JSJ Corporation: to earn trust, learn by doing, work together and steward the JSJ legacy. According to his son, Nelson Jacobson, president and CEO of JSJ Corporation, "My father positively represented what any of us could do if we work hard and consistently to make ourselves, those around us and our communities better." Alvin Emmanuel Jacobson, Jr., was born May 30, 1922 (Memorial Day) in Hatton Hospital, in Grand Haven, MI to Alvin Emmanuel Jacobson, Sr., and Edna Victoria Nelson Jacobson. He was the second oldest of three boys and three girls. An Eagle Scout, he graduated from Grand Haven High School in 1940, where he was captain of the varsity football and basketball teams. In 1940, Mr. Jacobson entered the University of Michigan's School of Pre/Engineering, where he became a member of Sigma Phi fraternity and joined Naval Reserve Officer Training (NROTC). In 1943, he received a Navy Ensign commission and was assigned to a submarine in Mare Island, Calif. In April 1944, he graduated from submarine school at New London, Conn., and reported aboard submarine USS Flier. That experience was soon to change his life forever. On the first patrol around the Philippine Islands, the Flier sank seven ships. On the second war patrol while passing through Balabac Strait in the Philippines on August 13, 1944, the Flier hit a mine and sank. According to The USS Flier: Death and Survival on a World War II Submarine, written by Michael Sturma, Mr. Jacobson was one of only eight sailors who survived the disaster and became the first Americans of the Pacific war to escape, remain uncaptured and return safely from a sunken submarine to the United States. Mr. Jacobson's memoirs and memories were a critical source for the book, and Sturma offered the book in his acknowledgement as a tribute to the brave men of the USS Flier. Mr. Jacobson received the Purple Heart medal after the event, which, after 18 hours in the water, put him and seven crew members deep behind enemy lines on a remote Japanese-controlled island. In May 1998, Mr. Jacobson made a pilgrimage to the spot where the Flier sank and retraced the route the survivors had taken to Brooke's Point. On Bugsuk Island, he and his son Steve rediscovered the water cistern used by the survivors more than 50 years earlier. He was a master storyteller, and relished re-telling the Flier experience, keeping his audiences spellbound with the tale. On November 30, 1944, Mr. Jacobson reported aboard the submarine USS Ling at the Boston Navy Yard and was on the USS Ling en route to the Pacific once again, when World War II ended. After his U.S. Navy discharge in 1946, he returned to the University of Michigan and received a bachelor's of science degree in mechanical engineering in 1947. Mr. Jacobson worked at the Research Foundry at Crane Company in Chicago before returning to his hometown of Grand Haven, MI in 1948 to enter into business at the Grand Haven Brass Foundry with his father, Al Jacobson, Sr. - one of the cofounders in 1919 of the business today known as JSJ Corporation. He and Mary Eileen Chace were married July 9, 1955, and had three children, Christine Marie, Nelson Chace and Steven Grant. Mr. Jacobson, Jr., worked at the Grand Haven Brass Foundry for four decades, serving as its president for 13 years. He was instrumental in the company's entry into Tianjin, China, in 1987. Mr. Jacobson was a founding director of JSJ Corporation in 1972, which was named for the company's founding families: Jacobson, Sherwood and Johnson. He served as chairman from 1989 to 1992. He was founding director and treasurer of Alloyed Grayiron Casting Company, Ravenna, MI. He served on the board of directors for several Grand Haven financial institutions, including Security Bank and Trust, Pacesetter Bank and Trust and Old Kent Bank and Trust. He also was founding director and vice chairman of Nova, Inc., and Harding Energy Company. Mr. Jacobson was active in, and honored and highly respected by the Western Michigan American Foundrymen's Society, AFS Cast Metals Institute and Brass and Bronze Division AFS, serving each organization as chairman. He also was president of the Plumbing Manufacturers Institute. His office at JSJ on Robbins Road, which he visited frequently until his death, was decorated with awards of business recognition (most fittingly made of brass) as well as model ships and works of art depicting great ships throughout history. Because he believed strongly in giving back to the community, Mr. Jacobson was president for the local committee for Economic Development in Grand Haven, MI. He also served as chairman of the Tri-Cities United Fund, Ferry's Landing Sundial and Brass River Project and Grand Haven High School Foucault Pendulum Project. He was a founder of Tri-Cities YMCA and Mulligan Hollow Ski Bowl, as well as founding director of the Great Lakes Naval Memorial and Museum. He donated his ship model collection, which is on display at the Tri-Cities Historical Museum in Grand Haven. A special pillar there honors the Jacobson, Sherwood and Johnson families' many years of generous financial support. A member of First Presbyterian Church in Grand Haven, Mr. Jacobson served as a treasurer and elder, and helped lead the building committee for the Sanctuary and Christian Education building. He was a member of the Spring Lake Yacht Club, International MC Class Sailboat Association Fleet 7, Island Goats Sailing Society, Naples Model Sailing Society, Ship Modelers Association in Naples, FL, Explorers Club of Chicago, and Kinne Creek Association in Baldwin, MI. He was an active member of the Stag Club and Rotary Club of Grand Haven, Spring Lake Country Club in Spring Lake, MI, and Wydemere Country Club in Naples, FL. Mr. Jacobson was preceded in death by his parents; brothers, Charles and David; brothers-in-law, Jack Richardson and Robert Mersereau; and sister-in-law, Peggy Anderson Jacobson. He is survived by his wife, Mary Eileen Chace Jacobson; his sisters, Edna Mary Richardson, Marylin Brooks and Muriel Mersereau; his children, Christine (Bob) Graeter, Nelson (Lana) Jacobson, and Steve (Edit) Jacobson; and eight grandchildren, Amanda, Andrea, and Karina Graeter, and Nelson Jr., Michael, Matthew, Peter and Shari Jacobson. The funeral service for Mr. Jacobson will be held at 4 p.m. on Tuesday, October 21, 2008, at the First Presbyterian Church of Grand Haven with Rev. Karin Fowler officiating. Friends may meet the family from 4 to 7 p.m. on Monday, October 20, 2008 at VanZantwick Bartels Kammeraad of Grand Haven (Please use East Entrance). Interment will be in Lake Forest Cemetery. Memorial contributions in Mr. Jacobson's name may be made to Hospice of North Ottawa Community, www.noch.org/ hospice.html, or Grand Haven Schools Foundation Endowment Fund at the Grand Haven Area Community Foundation or First Presbyterian Church of Grand Haven. Share memories with the family at their online guest book at vbkfuneralhome.com. VanZantwick Bartels Kammeraad Grand Haven

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