Jeff Jakubowski Jacobs

Jeff Jacobs, 59, of Williamson Valley (Prescott) passed away November 1st at Marley House inpatient hospice facility in Prescott, Arizona. 

Jeff was born on April 8th, 1958 in Grand Rapids, Michigan, to Monica (Dola) and Jules (Stanley) Jakubowski. He was the youngest of five children. He grew up hunting and fishing and enjoying outings in the great outdoors of Michigan in the family travel trailer. He attended both St. Anthony and West Catholic private schools in Grand Rapids, where he “majored in” playing varsity football.  

Jeff attended college for a year before he was recruited, along with a group of his friends from Grand Rapids in 1978, to relocate to Phoenix, Arizona. There he assisted in starting up the first Price Club in Arizona. Following that period, Jeff became a licensed electrician and worked in the construction field for many years. 

Jeff was married February 10, 1996 in Phoenix, Arizona, to Diane (Bishop) Jacobs. The Jacobs relocated to Prescott from Phoenix in 1999. In 2001, Mr. and Mrs. Jacobs designed their passive solar home in Williamson Valley and Jeff oversaw the building of the home, acting as general contractor. An electrician by trade, he always had many projects taking place around “the farm”, including inventing and building a portable solar generator that created additional electricity for a portion of the home. Jeff was a hands-on guy, very meticulous and detail-oriented, and able to fix just about anything.  

Jeff was employed for over a decade as an electrician at Yavapai College, overseeing the electrical needs of five campuses in Northern Arizona. In a Memoriam released by Yavapai College president, Penny Wills, Jeff’s supervisor, James Crockett, stated that “Jeff was a hard-working, dedicated employee. He was a quiet leader who always led by example and was respectful of everyone he worked around. I considered him a friend and he will be greatly missed.”   

In addition, Jeff volunteered regularly with the local chapter of Arizona Boys to Men, an organization whose mission is guiding boys age 13-17 through their crucial teen years toward a healthy manhood.  

He also enjoyed, along with his wife Diane, alternately raising chickens, turkeys, and sheep on their hobby farm. He loved gardening, and had recently constructed his own greenhouse. He also enjoyed making homemade wine, often with fruits or vegetables from his garden, such as beets, grapes, and even turnips. His favorite wine was one made from wild blackberries that he and Diane had picked in Sedona during a summer monsoon.  

One of his favorite things to do was to just putter around “the farm” or to drive out in the country for a micro brew at the patio of Barn Star brewery. Jeff was always available for a hike or kayaking and loved the great outdoors.  

Preceding Jeff in death were both of his parents, Monica and Jules Jakubowski. Surviving family include his son, Jeremy Jakubowski, a computer science student at ASU, step-daughter Tia Mattingly, and siblings, Jarret, Allen, Dennis and sister, Darline (Berg) Jakubowski, all who reside in Grand Rapids, Michigan. 

Jeff was known as a shy, private man, never wanting to be the center of attention. He was also known for his traits of humility and dignity. In approaching any situation in life, he was always a problem-solver and a peace maker. In his probing, “Columbo-style” manner, he would dig deeply into whatever challenge was at hand, finding the bottom line truth in all things, relentless in his probing, until he had reached the solution.

From his wife, Diane:

Your heart, so humble and loving, is the vessel God used to pour His goodness into my life, our home, and our marriage. Through the years, the vessel had been reshaped and weathered through challenges and joys that were ever-changing, but your heart was willing to be pliable in the Master’s hands...and that is what made you a man after God’s heart...and the man who won mine. For all that you were and all that you became, you had my full respect, my admiration, and my love...completely.

Until we meet again...           

“Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth.” Matthew 5:5