Vi Jacobs Tribute

“I hope that people stay committed, not only to us but to one another. This is the thing that’s going to make this place. It’s community working with community.” - Vi Jacobs

The daughter of Lebanese immigrants, Violet “Vi” Jacobs was among the first in her family to pursue higher education. She graduated from Wellesley College with a degree in languages, studying French, German, and classical Greek. After working in advertising, she became an active partner in launching the Jacobs Engineering Group, working with her husband, Joseph J. Jacobs in the firm’s startup years. Following the tradition set by her father, she actively raised money to strengthen education and served on the PTA while her daughters were in school. She established the F.M. Jabara Endowed Scholarship Fund to provide access to education for poor and orphaned children in Lebanon, served as a volunteer for the American Friends Service Committee, the Huntington Hospital, and Meals on Wheels, as well as secretary for the Westminister Presbyterian Church. Vi was also an avid supporter of the Lebanese Ladies Cultural Society and the Near East Foundation. She was a worldwide traveler and an advocate for economic and educational development in her parents’ homeland of Lebanon.

Vi Jacobs was 99 years old and leaves behind her daughters, Linda Jacobs and Valerie Jacobs Hapke and Valerie’s family: her husband, Norman, and Vi’s two grandchildren, Andrew and Claire. Her eldest daughter, Meg Jacobs, passed away in February, 2012. Her beloved husband and co-founder Joe Jacobs passed away on October 23, 2004. Together, they envisioned and founded the Jacobs Family Foundation and Jacobs Center for Neighborhood Innovation.

Tribute Video Honoring Violet "Vi" Jacobs
© October 2011

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