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On Friday morning, December 7th Investigator Robert Jacobsen lost
his valiant battle with cancer, dying peacefully at home with family at his side.
Bob began his career with the Division of
Fire Safety in October 1984 as a fire investigator. In April 1988 he tendered his
resignation, entered the world of politics to seek the position of Sheriff in Washington County.
Having a short political career, Bob sought an opportunity to return to the Division. In
August 1989, Bob once again was hired as an investigator with the Division, retiring in
August 2007.
Assigned to the east central portion of the
state Bob literally was involved in thousands of investigations, working in conjunction
with not only the fire service, but with various law enforcement agencies; local, state
and federal. Bob not only assisted the area
fire service agencies, he too was a mentor and teacher to those same agencies.
During his career with the Division, Bob
was selected as one of the Division’s first accelerant K-9 handlers and remained in
this capacity for several years. During these years Bob was assigned and fortunate to have
worked with three canines; Tucker, Casey and Bandit. All were considered a part of his
family.
Bob's career was shortened by his diagnosis
with cancer earlier this year. Had it not been for this diagnosis there is no doubt
Bob would have remained as an investigator with the Division for as long as he could
physically do so.
Bob touched a lot of lives and those of us
who knew and worked with him know how dedicated and committed he was to his work as an
investigator. Even after his retirement, the Division still considered Bob part of the
Division’s family. Of course Bob had another family, his personal family who he was
committed to as well. It was obvious during Bob’s career that his family was
committed to him. Due to the nature of his work there were numerous times when Bob was
forced to miss family events and special occasions because duty called. Bob and his family
knew this was part of the job and he never complained about these situations. In fact his
complaint would be if he had not been called to assist.
In late September, the Division honored Bob
with a retirement reception. It was very apparent, due to the number of folks attending,
that Bob had made a difference in many lives and continued to do so. Many stories were
told, most were humorous, but all were a reflection of who Bob was and how he lived his
life. It is true; Bob was one of a kind.
To Bob’s family and friends, the
Division of Fire Safety family will truly miss him. We are blessed to have been a small
part of his life.
Our thoughts and prayers go out to Bob and
his family. |
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Robert "Jake" Jacobsen
Visitation:
Monday, December 10, 2007
2:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m.
Moore Funeral Home
105 Clark St., Potosi
Firefighter Prayer Service
at 8:00 p.m.
Funeral:
Tuesday, December 11
St. Joachim Catholic Church, 11:00 a.m.
10114 Crest Road, Cadet
Procession will leave the funeral home at 10:15 a.m.
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