When Army veteran John "Jack" Jacobson died April 13, he was among the oldest living World War II veterans in the U.S.
Jacobson enlisted in 1940 and was sent to England in 1944 to help prepare for the invasion of France, according to AL.com in Alabama. He served as a quartermaster in Gen. George Patton's Third Army for the next two years. He separated from the Army Reserve in 1953.
Jacobson and his wife, Georgia, moved to Missouri in 1962 to close a family-owned packing plant; and instead he expanded it and moved it to Liberal, Kansas, according to his obituary. He became chief executive officer of National Beef and chairman of the board of Idle Wild Foods, Inc., which under his leadership became a Fortune 500 company.
He retired in 1986, moved to Florida, and then to Alabama where he lived in Point Clear. He was an avid golfer and took part in many community activities, often saying "another day to live is another day to serve," according to the AL.com story.
"Major Jacobson used every opportunity to come and be around young people. He knew what he represented and he knew the values that he wanted to pass on to the younger generation ... what a blessing he was to us and what a blessing that he was able to live his life so completely to the very end," Janet Cobb, director of Battleship Park, where Jacobson was a frequent visitor, told Fox News.
Jacobson worked at veterans events with Dr. Barry Booth, a Vietnam War veteran, and talked with school children about World War II. Jacobson was a local hero who touched the lives of thousands of people, Booth said in the Fox report.
Before the service for Jacobson on Tuesday, children lined Highway 225 outside a school in Point Clear and waved flags as a tribute to him. The service took place at Alabama State Veterans Cemetery in Spanish Fort.
"Tears just fell out of my eyes when we came by the school and all the kids were out there waving the flags," Jacobson's son, John Jacobson, told Local 15 TV News.
Rachael Kalinyak is an editorial intern with Network Solutions.
