46 | JULY 16 • 2020
Soul
of blessed memory
A
s soon as John Jacobs graduated law
school in 1971, he set his sights on
making the world a better place —
and doing his utmost to benefit the Jewish
community.
“John really blossomed as an adult,
”
said longtime friend Marcy Feldman of
Huntington Woods. “He got
involved in so many commu-
nity organizations. He really
championed the underdog.
”
It was Marcy, along with
mutual friend Ken Bertin,
who fixed up John with his
future wife in 1968. “I saw Kenny and John
standing on the street, and I went over to
say hello,
” remembers Marcy. “John said,
‘
Do you have a girl for me to take out on
Saturday night?’
and I said, “Yeah, sure, my
friend Gilda.
’
”
Three years later, John and Gilda mar-
ried, and the two set out on an idealistic
quest to better the community — Gilda
Jacobs through public service as a state rep-
resentative and state senator and John using
his grit and brainpower to aid Jewish people
in need.
John E. Jacobs, 73, of Huntington Woods,
a 2017 recipient of the William Davidson
Lifetime Achievement Award of the Jewish
Federation of Metropolitan Detroit, died
July 1, 2020.
By day, John was a corporate and real
estate lawyer. But after hours, he held lead-
ership positions with Jewish Family Service,
JVS, ADL, Temple Emanu-El, Tamarack
Camps, Federation’
s Annual Campaign and
Federation’
s Community Services Division,
among other organizations.
John’
s legendary dedication to the Jewish
community lasted all his adult life. He was
relentlessly available when there was work
to be done.
“John always said yes,
” said Federation
President Beverly Liss. “He was tireless;
very bright, very astute. He was able to
strategize — a real problem solver.
“John was a true mensch,
” Liss said.
“He had a very big heart and a love for the
Jewish community, for Israel and for his
family.
”
Recalled Gilda, “John didn’
t just show up
at meetings. When he took on a responsi-
bility on a committee or a board, he really
got involved. He wasn’
t the rubber-stamp
kind of board member. People respected
him for that. He asked great questions and
worked for creative solutions.
“He also led two missions of state
legislators to Israel to help them better
understand Federation’
s programs. It was
a natural milieu for John because he knew
many legislators and he so well understood
Federation and its agencies.
”
As part of Federation’
s Government
Relations Oversight Committee, he lobbied
legislators to win financial allocations for
the Jewish, Chaldean and Arab-American
communities.
AN OPEN HEART
John served as president of Jewish Family
Service from 1990-1992, said Perry Ohren,
its current CEO.
“He was passionate about helping people
alleviate their impoverished situations,
” said
Ohren. “He was also very helpful in the
early ’
90s raising funds for the Windows
Program, which was about domestic abuse
prevention and intervention.
“Many people thought that we Jews
don’
t have social problems like poverty and
domestic violence,
” Ohren said. “John was
aware of this and helped many Jewish agen-
cies start programs to help people who were
hurting.
“He was also very involved with our
community’
s efforts to help older adults.
John was outspoken that the Jewish com-
munity should be there until the bitter end
for older adults.
”
It was John’
s efforts with the Committee
on Jewish Eldercare Services (COJES) to
assist seniors aging at home that eventually
came back to benefit him when he was
ailing.
“
All of a sudden, the community was
there to provide the services for John and
for our family,
” said Gilda.
“How lucky we are that our community
has these resources when families are in
need as well as the leadership of people like
John and his Federation peers.
“John was an important part of creating
an incredible support system and safety
net for folks who need services. That is the
‘John
Always
Said Yes’
DAVID SACHS CONTRIBUTING EDITOR
“John was a true mensch. He had a very
big heart and a love for the Jewish
community, for Israel and for his family.”
— FEDERATION PRESIDENT BEVERLY LISS
JOHN HARDWICK
John Jacobs
JOHN HARDWICK
John and
Gilda Jacobs
Soul
of blessed memory