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Paul "Jake" Jacobson was born July 17, 1911, in Galesburg, Illinois to Swedish parents. He grew up in that railroad town with his two brothers and one sister. He loved golf, swinging his first club when he was seven. He perfected his swing by knocking off dandelion heads without hitting a blade of grass; his family eventually owned one of the greenest lawns in town! He kept some golf clubs with wooden handles given to him by a local Judge for whom he caddied.
After high school, he worked at Rowe Overhead Door Company. There he went into supervision, was a draftsman and finally an account representative for that company. During this time, he took various night classes at the University of Illinois. He met his wife Bernadine at a church youth conference. They were married 3 years later (1938) and had two daughters: Deanna and Candace; there are 6 grandchildren.
Jake and Bernadine first came out to Estes Park through a contact of Candace's. Two Galesburg librarians owned a cottage and guesthouse at Loveland Heights (down the canyon from Estes Park on Highway 34). In 1969 the librarians invited the Jacobsons to join them there. Jake reports that, at the time, there were numerous hippies in the area and it was comforting for the women to have a man along for protection. The women, who had owned the cottages for nineteen years, offered to sell them to Jake and Bernadine and Rob and Candace.
Jake and Bernadine were introduced to SRA by the Hoaglands and joined in 1981. The Hoaglands took the Jacobsons to a breakfast at Esther Johnsen's home, which was lots of fun. They served as breakfast supervisors from 1982 to 1985 (Jake notes that the new grill [2004] was a big improvement!). Breakfasts included places such as Esther Johnsen (Kathy Cannon's mother), Bill McCreery and the Curry's. Other locations included the Rood's and Aspinall's. Jake was president of SRA in 1989.
Jake enjoyed the SRA golf tournaments, dinners and breakfasts, but most of all enjoyed all of the camaraderie and the members. Among his friends were John Johnson, Herb Winkleman (neighbor and Camille Graham's father), Ted Chittwood, Elton and Elizabeth Kelley and Carl Given. Parties often involved costumes; the Hobo party and Oriental party were two of Jake's favorites. Dinners were both educational and social. Charlie Eagle Plume spoke at one of the dinners. Table decorations were always well done.
Jake and Bernadine frequently played cards with the friends they had met in SRA. During their summers in Estes Park, Jake enjoyed hiking, playing golf, riding horses, and attending activities such as rodeos, parades and other Summerfest programs. People in the organization would get together for local events; Jake attended the Estes Park football games with Carl Given in the fall. Support of the library has been a long-standing effort of SRA.
Jake saw many changes in Estes Park since 1969. The devastation from the Big Thompson and Lawn Lake floods were particularly memorable. The noise from the Big Thompson flood sounded like an explosion and the water went into all the buildings along the river.
Bernadine died in 1999 and Jake moved to Estes Park full time when Rob and Candace finished their home on Stonegate Drive in March of 2002 until his death in 2006. He was in charge of the SRA Amblers the past eight years and often gave wonderful reflections and prayers at the SRA meetings for all members to enjoy.